Power
by Lady Helsing
Summary: What are you supposed to do when an evil comes to your country for the second time? An was victorious the first time? Sequel to Magic.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Happy New Year! As I said here is the first chaper up for the sequel to Magic. Since I'll be going back to school this month chances are you'll only be getting one or two chapters a month. As usual, please R&R to tell me what you think. Also, this story picks up three months after Magic. Enjoy!

* * *

**Power**

Chapter One

* * *

Balls of glass hung from a circular-roofless room, each one flashing images of the Honshu island of Japan. Everything from trees, buildings new and old, people going about their lives, to the ghosts floating among the living. Not one image shown anything powerful enough to add to the others he had gained over the centuries.

Large double doors opened out and a large cream-colored fox, with three tails, entered the room.

"Ekin." A male voice echoed in the room, "I see you return from another excursion to Japan."

The fox reached the very center of the room before shifting into a humanoid form, dressed in a long furisode, one would only tell she was not human by her fox ears. "I have my lord," She bowed deeply.

"Where you successful?"

"Yes," She stood up strait and took a black mirror out of her obi, "I have seen them." Holding the mirror out so the glass faced upwards, images in the glass balls began to change, showing the faces of five young men. "These five have the powerful new treasure you seek. From what I can tell the power has become all but one with them, extracting the power from them is liable to kill them."

Ekin blew air over the glass and the images changed again, this time showing the youths wearing impressive samurai-like armor, "As you can see this power will truly make a grand addition."

"You have done well, Ekin."

She bowed again, "It is my pleasure, Lord Haytie."

The man stood up from a marble throne, "Inform all the troops of everything you know on your country. We shall go collect these armors in three days."

"As you wish," She turned and walked quietly out of the room. The large doors closed behind her without a sound.

Haytie stepped down from his throne, five of the glass balls moved in front of him, each with an image of the armored youths. "These armors shall be a new jewel in my crown. Such a pity the five of you must die in your prime, yet thus is fate." He took one of the glass balls into his hand, "Marijke."

Walking from the shadows the young girl bowed, dark curled locks falling over her shoulders, "My lord?"

"You will lead the first strike."

"I'm flattered. How would you like me to handle them?" She asked, standing up straight again.

"Introduce yourself to the enemy as only you can."

* * *

"SHEISSE!" Rachel yelled, as she stood stark still against a tree.

Groaning the soaking wet Ronin of HardRock sat up from the rubble that was a boulder until two seconds ago. "Ouch..."

"Past this tree is supposed to be the safe zone!" Rachel yelled to the group of warriors on the other end of the field.

"Sorry Rachel!" Cye called back, "I still have trouble with this attack."

The young German girl whimpered.

"I told you we should make the cabin the safe zone," Sileny said from the tree above, gripping a pen and paper.

"You okay Kento?" Sage called over.

"Just peachy," Kento answered as he stood up. Dusting the rubble from his armor, "Haven't been thrown around like that for a while."

"Let's take the dinner break," Rowen looked at their leader.

"Good idea, Kayura should be here soon anyways," Ryo put his swords away.

Sileny jumped down from the tree branch, "You sure you're okay Kento?"

Kento nodded, "Yeah I've had way worse," he grinned then glanced at the paper in the girls hand, "So who's winning today?"

Arching an orange eyebrow she answered, "I thought that was rather obvious at this point?"

"I only won with that last attack," Cye looked at the Swedish girl.

She nodded, "True but your water-jet-looking-thingy threw him farther in the last two minutes than his boulders did you in the last two hours."

"Sileny has a point, Cye. My helmets off to ya for that."

Rowen walked up behind the girls, "What about the rest of us?"

Rachel looked up and turned around, "For the day or the whole week?"

"Both."

Reaching over, the auburn haired one pulled the sheet of paper from her friend's hand, "The winner's today are Cye and Sage."

"So far," Sileny added.

"You two get to fight each other then after dinner," Kento sounded a little more amused than Cye thought he should.

"And the cabin will _definitely_ be safe zone for that."

"Who won our match?" Ryo asked, looking at the paper.

"Sorry I didn't catch that."

Rowen looked at Sileny, "You didn't?"

Blue eyes looked up, "No. I was too busy trying not to fall off the tree while Kento went flying past my face, then crashed into that," She pointed at the rubble behind the warrior in question.

"You crashed into a boulder?"

"Hm?" Turning his head the Chinese man grinned, "Hey Kayura, and yes, I crashed into a boulder." He nodded towards the pail of rocks.

"Wow… who did-"

"My fault," Cye answered, now in his subarmor.

"Sage and Cye are the winners today," Ryo looked at his two friends.

"I'd like to stay and watch that," Kayura looked between the two.

Sage shrugged, now also in his subarmor, "Let's go inside."

"Yes," Ryo agreed and led the way into the small cabin he had called home for so many years.

"So you did find something?" Rowen asked.

"Yes," Kayura nodded, "It's not really much to go on at all though." She pulled a scroll out from the sleeve of her kimono, "Cale and I found it in the records this morning. We kept looking to find it referenced again, however, this is the only scroll Haytie is mentioned in."

Unrolling the scroll across the table she set her figure down on a paragraph, "This states and I quote, 'Scouts in the Mortal Realm have seen Lord Haytie on the larger island of Honshu. What he is after has yet to be discovered, yet Lord Talpa has ordered a watchful eye be kept on this intruder.' Un quote."

"Sounds to me like whoever wrote that knew who Haytie is," Rowen observed.

Sage nodded, "I agree. Does it say anything else?"

"Yes," moving her finger she said, "Quote, 'Haytie seems to have found a power he desires and took it without hesitation and little opposition. Lord Talpa said to leave this matter alone since whatever it was Lord Haytie took is not something that Lord Talpa is after.' Un quote."

"That's all?" Cye looked at the girl across from him.

"That's all. We know that Talpa was after the armors but obviously that's not what Haytie came after."

Rowen thought for a moment, "So if Talpa knew who Haytie was then chances are they crossed paths at some point."

"It's very likely," Kayura admitted, "Talpa never talked about someone like this though. At least not to me-that I remember."

Kento spoke next, "What was this written?"

She looked back down to the scroll and found the dates written in red, "Um the Kamakura Period, winter and spring of 1241 to be exact."

"That's over seven-hundred years ago," Ryo observed.

"Would this record keeper know who Haytie is?" Rachel asked.

"He may have, however he was executed about ten years ago."

"Other than this we have nothing," Ryo sighed, "Well at least it's more than we had on Keitaro."

"You've fought enemies before without knowing anything about them," Sileny looked at her six friends, "Why is it so important to know everything now?"

Rowen answered, "It will give us an advantage. Keitaro is the only one we've fought so far that we haven't learned something along about along the way."

"Not everyone you come up against will tell you their life story, Rowen."

The taller boy just looked at her.

"I have to agree with her," Kayura looked at them, "Until Keitaro came along, it wasn't hard to figure out why you guys where fighting or being attacked. Talpa wanted your armors to be complete, Saranbo wanted the Inferno Armor so he could use it to take over the Dynasty, Saber Strike-to some extent-because of the injustice Talpa brought, then there was that creep who kidnapped Sage and used him as bait to harness the power of the armors."

The memories of those events brought a still silence to the five Ronin.

"The black inferno was the real suspect in Africa, and don't get me started on that ghost from Edo!" Kayura glared at the scroll, "Keitaro is the only one without a real motivation and he's also the first who didn't want the armors in any way, shape or form."

"He didn't even try to take over the mortal realm, like most of the other's we've fought," Cye's leaned back against the wall.

Rachel looked at Sage, "Didn't samurai used to go around challenging opponents to test their strength?"

"Yes, though I don't see how that's-" He paused, "Wait a minute. You think Keitaro was challenging us for that? He said it was for amusement."

"Yes."

Ryo thought a moment; "In a way that does make sense, he only won a battle against us once. Why keep fighting us unless it's really for strength?"

Kayura sighed, "While that makes sense I don't think we'll ever get an answer."

White Blaze entered the room and went straight to Ryo, lying down beside him. The large tiger was being unusually quiet during the first half of that conversation. One day he was sure his friends could find out the truth, he just didn't know when.

"Let's eat some dinner," Cye said before reaching into his bag for his bento.

"You hungry, Kayura?"

"I've already eaten, thank you."

"Sileny what time do you have class in the morning?" Kento asked.

"Eight-thirty, why?"

"Just want to be sure we can get you back in time."

"Kento, it's only six-thirty, I'm sure I can get some sleep. Thanks for worrying though."

"You work tomorrow too, don't you?" Rachel looked at her roommate.

Sileny nodded, "I close tomorrow night."

"What time does the call center close?" Rowen asked.

"At ten."

"Need a ride home? I don't work too far from you."

"Aw," She smiled, "That's cute Rowen, but you're driving skills scare me. So no thanks."

Kento chuckled, "Sage is worse than Rowen."

Sage cleared his throat.

"I'll stay with the rail."

Kayura giggled, "How are things going for the rest of you?" She looked at the Ronin.

Cye shrugged, "Can't complain too much. Even with all the training the shop's still doing good business."

"Wish I could say the same," Kento set his coffee drink down, "My siblings are really starting to get on my nerves with all their questions about the armor."

"I told you to just tell your parents and grandfather," Sage looked at his friend.

"I did," Kento answered, "Mei Ryu saw Ryo and I sparring in our subarmor the other night so the cat's officially out of the bag now."

"So that's what all that noise was," Rachel smiled, "And here I thought he was playing video games again."

"No he saw us," Ryo rubbed the back of his head.

"Are you settled into the apartment yet, Ryo?"

Groaning he replied, "As I'll ever be. I still can't believe my grandparents gave me their Tokyo apartment."

"I think that was nice of them," Rachel said.

"They told you that they weren't using it as much anymore and at least this way you get a place to live."

"Until they find White Blaze and Black Blaze," Cye said.

"Don't even joke about that," Ryo warned.

Sileny giggled.

"Is Black Blaze still being cold towards you?" Kayura asked, "You can always send him to us in the Nether Realm."

Ryo shook his head; "I mentioned that once to Black Blaze… that didn't go over very well."

"I think we should send him over to Rachel and Sileny's place."

The two girls stared at Cye.

"Um so he can eat our cats? I don't think so," Rachel shook her head.

"And I doubt that would go over well with the cops that live on our street," Sileny added.

Sage chuckled, "Probably not. However if Black Blaze was with you two then we'd have peace of mind during a battle."

"He doesn't even like us that much, why don't one of you guys take him to your place?" Rachel looked at everyone but Ryo.

"Not enough room in our apartment," Kento answered truthfully.

"Well?" Sileny looked at Sage and Rowen.

Sage went first, "I'm busy with the dojo and we don't get enough time to watch Ray as it is."

"I don't like Black Blaze anymore than he likes me."

Ryo shook his head; "Black Blaze can stay with me until spring. I have the room for them both." He looked at Sage, "How are things at the dojo anyways? You guys get that issue between the two kids solved?"

Rolling his eyes the blonde shook his head, "Not yet and I'm two steps shy from having them kicked out."

"What's going on?" Kayura asked.

"There are two students in my armature class with a very heated rivalry. From what another student tells me they are like this in school as well, and it's starting to cause problems."

"Can't you talk to their parents?" Kento asked.

"Tried, it hasn't really worked."

"Great."

"Anything new at the bookstore?" Kayura looked at Rowen.

"Not really," He leaned back, "My boss is trying to promote me but I'd rather he not."

"Why not?"

"Because I already feel like I live there as it is."

She frowned.

A low grunting sound came from the hallway, causing White Blaze to lift his head.

"That BB?" Sileny asked.

"Think so," Ryo replied before watching his tiger friend stand and walk back to the hall.

* * *

_What is the matter?_ Brown eyes looked at the obviously tense black tiger standing by a window.

Tail twitching, Black Blaze answered, _Look out the window and tell those clouds don't look familiar_.

Without question, the other feline stood on his hind legs, propping his front paws against the wall. Yes he saw them. Dark storm clouds, at least seven miles away. They didn't have the green tint to them like the Dynasty's, no these looked like regular storm clouds.

White Blaze knew better, like his demonic companion, he could see the traces of magic in those clouds. He let out a low growl.

_Company is coming_. Black Blaze confirmed.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I'm in mourning for what has happened in Japan. It breaks my heart to see what has happened to a country so dear to me, and in one of it's most beautiful cities. Sendai is the hometown of our favorite blonde ronin Sage-bit of useless trivia. I really wish I could do more than what donations I have sent.  
Back to this fic, firstly, thank you for the reviews they make me feel warm and fuzzy. I'll be starting a summer job soon so that will likely effect my updates. Don't panic, I am writting, updates may just be slower than usual.

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**Chapter Two**

Kento let out a yawn, "Man all this training really puts me out."

"Yeah me too," Ryo admitted, "But we need to stay on top of our game in case something happens."

"I second that notion," Kayura looked at them, "Still training every day can be hard on the body."

"See? It's not just us who think that!" Sileny added with Rachel nodding in agreement.

"Hm..."

Kento looked at the blonde, "What is it?"

"I just don't remember a storm in the forecast today," Sage nodded to the window.

They followed his gaze to the storm clouds over the horizon.

"Strange," Ryo stood up, "I thought it was supposed to be clear and sunny?"

Rachel raised an eyebrow, "That's weird... the clouds are moving but I don't see the wind blowing."  
Sage went to say something but was cut off by a low growl, followed by the two tigers running past him and the others.

"What Blaze! Black Blaze!" Ryo yelled after them as they ran out the opened front door.

"What's gotten into them?"

"Lets find out," Ryo dashed out after the two large tigers, his friends just behind him.

"Ryo wait!" Kayura shook her head before running after him and the four other boys. "Rachel, Sileny stay here just in case."

Sileny blinked twice then looked at her friend, "Really?"

The young German girl just shrugged.

The white tiger roared loudly as he stopped just ten feet outside the cabin. Ear pinned back and the fur on his tail was starting to stand on end, he did not like this happening so soon. White Blaze would rather this not happen at all-too late for that now though. He felt Black Blaze stop just to his left flank, growling, so he let out another roar at the clouds that came closer.

"White Blaze! Black Blaze!" Cye was the first to catch up to them, "What's wrong boys?"

"Hey White Blaze," the Ronin of Wildfire looked down at his feline friend. _Something is not right here_, he thought before following the tiger's gaze to the clouds only five miles away.

"You guys don't think…?" Kento looked between his friends.

Kayura gazed up, "Those clouds."

"There's not wind," Rowen said, confirming earlier suspicions. His eyes narrowed, "Has to be company."

Ryo stance changed, "Already?"

"Guys?" Sileny called from the cabin.

Sage looked over his shoulder to the girls, "Stay back there,"

"Can you see what's over the clouds?" Sileny looked at them.

"What?" Now Kento looked back.

Rachel's head appeared over Sileny's shoulder, "There's something flying above the clouds and it's huge!"

_Above the clouds_? Ryo looked up; squinting still he couldn't see anything. "I don't see it."

"I think I do," Rowen answered as he pulled his bow and arrow from the air, a trick he recently learned.

Kento watched him, "You sure you want to do that?"

He took aim, "I won't hit it." Letting the arrow go, he saw it sore up until it past something that was several stories above them.

Cye held his hand over his brow, "I see it now, what is that? It doesn't look like a bird."

Sage squinted, "Looks like it's coming down."

Kayura blinked, "The hell… it looks like it has a tail?"

"White Blaze, you and Black Blaze go guard Rachel and Sileny just in case," Ryo glanced down at the two tigers.

Black Blaze twitched his ear before turning to head back to the cabin, however, White Blaze didn't move. The tiger stood in front of his master, as if he refused to move.

"What Blaze?"

He growled and crouched like he wanted to pounce on something. The other tiger came back and bit the white tiger's tail. White Blaze whirled around, snapped at Black Blaze with his ears pinned. Sneering, the back tiger puffed himself up before bearing his teeth and hissing aggressively. He growled but then followed Black Blaze back towards the cabin.

Kento gazed at the two, "What was that all about?"

"Let's debate that later, I'd rather know what the hell _that_ is?" Cye's eyes focused on the thing flying down to them.

"Is that a dragon?" Kento stared.

Rowen shook his head, "I don't think so."

"There's someone on it!" Rachel's voice shouted.

Sage began to realize how much closer it was getting to them, "She's right."

"Move back!" Ryo said as the creature got closer and began to land.

The large reptilian animal looked almost more feline in the face and the skin was stone. It gazed at the Ronin with blank eyes as its rider slide off its back.

"What is that thing?" Kento asked.

A response came from the rider, "It's a gargoyle."

Ryo glared at the gargoyle before turning his attention to the girl in front of them.

She was of medium build with long black hair, curled just above her waist. Deathly pale and eyes the color of rubies, she smiled to reveal her less than pearly whites. "Lovely to make your acquaintances; we have been gathering such interesting information on all of you."

"Who are you?" Sage demanded.

"My name is Marijke."

"Marijke?" Kento repeated.

"Yes, I have been sent to greet you young men by Lord Haytie."

_Haytie?_ Kayura glared, "So he has come here after all."

"What does he want?" Cye asked, "He was here once before from what we've found out."

"Ah you've done your research," She nodded, "Yes he has been here before. Now he's returned to take the powers your armors hold."

"Not for sale," Rowen glared.

"We aren't here to buy them, he will take them. The only sad thing is that once he takes them the five of you will die."

_What_? Ryo gripped his katanas.

"It often happens when new powers are created. My lord is not a man without some sympathy, therefore you'll all have one week from today to say farewell to your loved ones-"

"SCREW THAT!" Kento yelled.

"We won't just hand over our lives to him!" Cye added.

Pulling an arrow out Rowen aimed it at her, "Or anyone for that matter!"

"So you are prepared to fight for this new power that has become part of you?" Marijke smirked, "How predictable. Let's hope your lot proves a better time had by all, the last time was a bit lax in their fighting."

Sage felt his stomach tighten, "And just what was it your lord stole from our country the last time?"

"I'm not at liberty to say."

"Humph, you ask them to give up their lives to your lord and offer nothing in return?" The blue haired girl tightened her hands into fists, "How typical."

She smirked, "Typical or not, this is what I had to offer. Since you all refuse to come you'll have to fight."

Cye's anger was building, "We've fought for our lives and armors many times already."

"Yes we are very aware of your history," leaning back against the gargoyle Marijke continued, "First you fought against Lord Talpa from the Nether Realm for the first time, a fight that only lasted a few months. Next came a few lesser lords, followed by a final battle with Lord Talpa and a lasting victory for you five."

Ryo could feel the others tense up around him; he opened his mouth to speak but was cut off.

"Next one of you was lured into a trap in the Americans, used as bait to bring in the other four. Of course you five won, despite the innocent lives lost at the time."

Sileny and Rachel looked at each other. They knew about the battles in America but not that lives had been lost. Rachel looked at Sage; she could tell at once how upset he was just by how still he stood. Her attention then went to Ryo, his shoulders had moved forward, he was just as-if not more-angry than Sage. What had they not told her?

"Move on a few months later and you're in Africa-"

"Okay we get it, you don't have to brag." Kento interrupted.

Rowen joined in, "Clearly you've done your own homework on us; you should have already known our answer."

"One can hope to gets things over with quickly and move on." She shrugged one shoulder, "Of course that never happens. I just really do hope that you're all ready for this fight. It's truly a shame to lose life in the prime."

Sage gripped his sword.

Kayura said, "We haven't lost yet; we won't lose now. You and your master should be the ones to brace yourselves for a loss."

Marijke looked at Kayura, "You're a bold one."

"If you are done here, then leave!" The blue haired girl glared.

Cye glanced sideways at the girl; he hadn't seen her like this before. Granted she hadn't fought with them since the fall of Talpa, but still…

"Hmm, perhaps I should. However I should leave on a note, should you have any living family who have strong powers, send them away. Myself and a fellow servant would show mercy, yet, my lord would seek out their powers for himself. This includes the two ladies you are trying to hide back there."

Ryo resisted the urge to strike the enemy in front of him.

Behind Marijke, the gargoyle moved and even made a growling sound. It walked up behind her and nudged her arm with a horn on the nose.

"I shall take my leave now, though I cannot say when others shall come to take your lives."

"Including you," Sage stated more than asked.

"Especially me," The dark haired girl mounted the gargoyle, "I look forward to adding those fantastic armors to our collection." Moving her ankles, she tapped at the flanks on the gargoyle with her heels. The creature ran forwards a few feet before taking off back into the sky, heading to the dark clouds.

Ryo watched with the others as the figure of the enemy vanished out of sight. Those dark clouds began dispersing like nothing happened. Something about all this was making the back of his head hurt, and his mouth go dry.

"Ryo."

Cye's voice snapped him out of his thoughts; he turned to look at the older of the Ronin. "It's some sick twisted form of déjà vu," He said.

"I agree," Sage nodded, "Always our armors and the powers they have."

"Not sure if we are better off with or without them," Kento added.

Rowen shook his head, "Either way there isn't anything we can do about it. Haytie or this Marijke may try to do something to the people."

"Yeah and she already warned us about targeting our families," Keno said through gritted teeth.

"Only if they have strong powers," Sage corrected.

"That included Rachel and Sileny," Rowen remarked as he glanced back to the cabin. "But they don't have powers."

"No," Cye nodded, "However we do know by now that Sileny has a fascination with magic. And because of that Rachel knows a little about it. Like Mia, they too, know a lot about myths."

Kayura offered another reason, "Or maybe Marijke thinks those two are your girlfriends."

"That would make a little more sense," Sage did agree, though both had become more like sisters to him.

"Either way…" Ryo trailed off before he started walked back to the cabin.

White Blaze made a soft grunt as his master came closer, he could see the mix of emotions on Ryo's face. His young master was getting ready for the war.

"What happened?" Rachel asked concern all over her face.

Looking at the tigers he said, "Black Blaze is going to be staying with you two until this is over."

Black Blaze snorted.

"Ryo-"

He interrupted Sileny, "Look the enemy may come after you guys when we aren't there, I want to be sure you two have some kind of protection."

White Blaze looked at the demon tiger, _Be nice to these two. It is your fault after all that they've become as involved as they are_.

_You don't need to remind me of that_, He growled.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you for the reviews! They make me happy and give me motivation to keep writting. ^_^ I'd also like to let you guys know that there is now some fic art of the OC's on my DA page if you want to take a look. The link to my DA is on the author page. Hopefully Ch. 4 will be up early April.

* * *

**Power**

Chapter Three

Ryo let out a yawn; he hadn't slept well that night thanks to the adrenaline rush from yesterday. It didn't help that White Blaze had paced the apartment all night long. What he wouldn't give for a nap! There was no way that was going to happen though, not with the racing thoughts he was having.

Yesterday had proved his fears to become true yet again. Yes, he was a Ronin Warrior. No, he did not enjoy it very much. The only reason Ryo put up with it was because it was his duty. He also knew that in a small way he never would have made his friends without the armor.

That did not give anyone reason to attack just to steal said armor from him, or the other four away. And why was it these new armors? What was so damn special about these ones?

The last Armor of Wildfire was very powerful. After all it had been created from demonic armor and fire made it so strong that Ryo often wondered at how he survived. Not to mention that it was only the Wildfire Armor that could channel the White Inferno Armor. And that best had literally almost killed him _twice_! An experience he never wanted to live through again.

That girl had only created these five armors so there could be another Inferno and she could destroy the world. Even Ryo was surprised when he didn't manage to call it. Yet he wasn't at the same time. They had all created Inferno out of desperation for power, and now they didn't want that kind of power. Perhaps that was the only reason he couldn't create the Inferno?

Ryo shook his head, he had to stop dwelling on the past and that stupid armor. Right now the problem was finding out why exactly the enemy wanted this new armor. Marijke didn't say they were after the Inferno so maybe they didn't know about it? He mentally slapped himself for going down that road again.

What the hell did these new armors have that they wanted so badly?

_Power_. A voice in the back of his mind whispered. _They want the armors for this new power that you five hold. You should be able to feel your Wildfire is a lot stronger than the former one. It's almost on par with_-

Knock. Knock.

White Blaze lifted his head up and gave a soft grunt.

"Who is it?" Ryo asked eyes on the door.

"It's me." A soft voice answered.

"Rachel?" He stood up and walked across the living room, opening the door to the outer hallway he saw that it was indeed the young girl. "Hey."

"Hey."

"Come in," moving back he let her inside, "I wasn't expecting company."

She shifted her weight, "Would you rather I go?"

Closing the door he said, "No actually, I could use some company right now." He let out a long sigh and rubbed the side of his face.

Frowning she slipped off her sandals, "Ryo if you need to talk about it you should know that I'll listen." When he looked at her surprised she added, "I ran into Kento earlier today when I went to get my paycheck. You both have that same look of melancholy on your faces. I'm worried about you guys."

Something seemed to lift off him, "I just have a shit load of questions running around in my mind about yesterday." He walked back over to the sofa, "A lot of this is pretty much déjà vu with the enemy wanting our armors..."

"But?" She sat beside him.

"But, I don't think our powers have ever been this entwined with our very lives. Threats to others that know us haven't been made like that before either. And what the hell did Marijke mean when she said our armors would make a good addition to a collection?"

Gazing back at his tiger blue eyes she shrugged, "My guess on the first part is because your armor is made from a new kind of magic. You've said yourself on many occasions that it's stronger than the last one and you're not sure how to completely use it yet. Since she said it's linked to your lives that might be something Suzunagi did to bring out Inferno."

White Blaze walked over to the two teenagers, he put his head on Ryo's lap. When Ryo didn't do anything he let out a low grunt.

Ryo reached down and began scratching the tiger's ear, "There's something else too.."

Rachel looked at him.

"Why isn't Black Blaze with you?" He looked at her.

She blinked, "He's out in the hallway, he would come in. I told him to go to Sileny's work but he didn't budge."

The boy beside her and his tiger both let out a heavy sigh.

"Now what?"

"I just wish I knew why Black Blaze acts the way he does."

"He's a cat; I don't think he needs an excuse."

The boy chuckled, "You could be right." Since Black Blaze was here that meant Sileny didn't have something to protect her. Of course that also meant that if Black Blaze had been with Sileny then Rachel wouldn't be protected either. A thought struck him, "Do you work tonight?"

"Um no but I am going to the Kun Fu dojo later for my lesson. Why?"

"When is that?"

Her blue eyes darted up to the clock on the wall, "It's at six."

Standing up the Ronin leader walked to his bedroom, "Come here for a minute."

She blinked twice but stood up and followed him anyways, "Ryo?"

Reaching up to one of the shelves he took down a broken and handed it to her, "Here."

"Excuse me?"

"Take it; I'm going to teach you how to use it."

The auburn haired girl opened her mouth then closed it before nodding. "Um okay…" She held the bokken in her hands and looked it over, "Ryo I don't think I'll be able to carry it around with me-"

"Look-"

"-Still I'll humor you." She finished and looked at him, "Who better to teach me?" A smile came to her face, "I'm just not sure I'll be a good student."

He returned the smile, "Don't worry. I'm not sure if I'll be as good a teacher as Sage is."

"I think you'll have more patience with me than he will."

Ryo laughed. He needed that laugh.

* * *

_Sleepy… tired… sleepy..tired_. Sileny rubbed her face as she struggled to stay awake at her desk. It had been a long day, thanks to having a tiger in her house last night. They still couldn't get the cats out from under Rachel's bed. That stupid tiger had done nothing but wonder around the house all night!

"Dum åsna tiger," she mumbled to herself.

"Sileny, if I can't talk in French off the phone, you can't talk in Swedish either."

Snickering she rolled back and looked on the other side of the cubicle wall, "In my defense, Madison, I only talk in Swedish when it's not something others should hear. You do the same thing in French."

The red-head giggled, "Alas 'tis true. But what is with you today? You look so tired."

"Rachel and I got a new um cat last night. He's was running around the house all night so I didn't sleep well, not to mention I was practically bombarded with tests today."

"Another chat?" Her co-worker blinked, "Which food is this one named from?"

She shook her head, "He's named Black Blaze… though I call him BB."

"Black Blaze?"

"When he gets hyper and terrors around the house, it's this streak of black fur. So we decided to call him Black Blaze." It may have been a lie but really, she couldn't think of any other logical reason why you'd name an animal Black Blaze. Let alone a tiger.

"Svensson."

"Hm?" Sileny turned in her chair to see one of her Japanese co-workers.

The older woman with glassed looked disapproving at the two foreigners, "Svensson, you shouldn't be-"

"Sileny!" A shrill voice called.

She jumped a bit in her chair, "What?"

The bubbly green-haired girl grinned, "There's a real cutie outside waiting for you!"

"Say what?" The orange haired girl tilted her head to one side.

Madison stared at her Swedish co-worker, "Did you get a boyfriend?"

"I have guy friends, not boyfriends, and are you sure he was waiting for me?"

The young girl nodded, "Yes. He specifically asked what time you're off work and said he was taking you home."

"What does he look like?" Madison asked eagerly.

The girl held her hand up high, "About this tall with blue hair-"

"Oh.. yeah I know who that is."

"Can I have his phone number?"

"Not mine to give you." _Not to mention he's way too smart for you_.

* * *

Rowen leaned against his bike as he waiting for his friend to get off work. He had been on edge ever since last night, hell all five of them had been. Sage had been extra quiet all day which unnerved him even more. Before he left work, Rowen had managed to call Sage to let him know he would be home late and why.

Yes, Black Blaze would be living with them until this was over, if not permanently. Yes, that gave him a peace of mind to some extent. The Ronin of Strata still knew that the tiger could not follow the girls around everywhere they went. A black tiger had no business being in a tea house or a call center. At least not if Rachel and Sileny wanted to keep their jobs.

Kento would make sure Rachel got home safely after her lesson tonight; also he and Cye did live closer to them. Even though he and Sage lived farthest, Rowen didn't mind the extra miles if it meant these two could be safe. Marijke hadn't directly said the girls where targets, but she was clear they could be. He wouldn't say the girls had power, at least not magical powers. They had become important to him and the others.

Rachel was the cute, smart, funny little sister he never thought he'd have. And if Ryo hadn't called dibs, he would be the one to rip off Keitaro's head for dragging her into the world of their armors.

Sileny was still a small mystery to him. She was a nice girl, smart too, while he found her attractive there was-

"Rowen."

He looked up and saw her eyeing him with her hands on her hips, "Hi Sileny."

"I distinctly remember telling you that I didn't need a ride home tonight."

"I remember, I just don't agree after what else happened yesterday." Picking up a spare helmet from the seat of the bike, he handed it to her.

Blue eyes looked from the helmet to him before she took it, "Is this going to become routine?"

"It might," He answered before taking his helmet and getting on the bike.

The Swedish girl hesitated before she got on behind him, "I'll make a note not to wear skirts for a while." She then added, "If you don't mind we do need to stop somewhere so I can pick something up for dinner. And don't go too fast or I might dig my nails into your gut."

Rowen chuckled, "Thanks for the warning. I don't mind stopping somewhere I need to grab some dinner too anyways, left mime at home." After putting his helmet on he started up his baby. Waiting just long enough for his passenger to wrap her arms around his waist before driving off.

He drove with her for a few blocks before pulling up to a ramen place, turning his head to look at her, he gestured at the building.

She nodded and waited for him to park and turn off the bike before taking her helmet off, "I didn't know you liked ramen."

Taking his helmet off he answered, "It's one of favorites. Cheap too."

"That's true," the orange haired girl got off the bike first, stepping back she waited for her new chaperone to do the same. "Sage covered for dinner?"

"Yeah he'll be eating at home-he should be there by now." The tall boy lead her into the small ramen shop. This was a place he had frequently visited ever since the first war with Talpa, so the employees knew him well. In fact they should have known better than to ask…

"Rowen! Oh? Did you get a girlfriend?"

"I am not his girlfriend," Sileny answered sounding annoyed, "I'm just a friend."

"She's a tad bold for me too," Rowen said.

The old man chuckled, "I see. Do you want your usual, Rowen?"

"Please."

"And um have you decided miss…?"

"I'd like to have the D-3, please."

"Wonderful choices, you two go find a seat and I'll bring it right out when it's ready."

"Thanks," Rowen offered the old man a smile before following Sileny to a table in the back. "Hope it's okay that we eat here. This place doesn't do take-out."

"It's just fine," She smiled, "This is a nice place and I'm in no hurry."

"If I looked as tired as you do I'd want nothing more than to get home and go to bed," He said.

"Wow thanks Rowen, thanks a bunch."

Oops. The Ronin of Strata rubbed the back of his head, "I mean…"

"I am tired," Sileny admitted, "BB kept me up most of the night because he wouldn't stop pacing all over the friggin' house. And before you ask he's with Rachel today, large dangerous animals aren't allowed on campus."

Rowen chuckled, "That would be a problem yeah."

There was a moment of silence between them. Sileny turned her head to look out the window at the crowds passing by, "Hey Rowen can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What Marijke said yesterday…"

Suddenly it felt like his stomach was twisting into a knot.

"Innocent people being killed in America," azure eyes stared at his midnight ones, "Is that true? And please be honest with me."

Leaning back against his chair he gave a slow nod, "It is true. I'm sorry to say so, still it's true."

"I see…"

Now he leaned forward, "I ask that you _don't_ bring that up to Sage or Ryo." When she didn't say anything he added in a low voice, "When Sage was captured his armor was forced to kill a group of teens in New York. Ryo saw that on the news here and then we all high tailed it for America. There was a guy who took pictures of the Armor of Halo, so I went to talk to him but he'd been killed-stabbed to be exact."

The girl nodded slowly so he knew she was taking this in.

"Later on…" He paused, "The little sister of the guy, her name was Luna, helped us get away from the cops.. did you hear that part?"

"About the fight that broke out in public? Yes."

"Luna also followed us to L.A., no one was really thrilled with that idea and I'm still not sure how we let it fly." Shrugging he then said, "Luna didn't make it out of L.A. alive. She took a bullet for Yuli when the demon's Hench man fired a gun at the kid."

Sileny's eyes widened, "Well at least she died for a good cause, saving his life and all."

"I agree. Now that I've told you this, how scared are you?"

"A little more than I was before, that doesn't change anything though."

"I didn't think it would, but why did you want to know?"

"Because Ryo didn't tell Rachel that people had died in America. I think she and I deserve to know something like that."

"Ryo probably didn't say anything because Luna's death hit him really hard, we're all pretty sure he had a crush on her. And I promise you that he feels responsible for her death."

"Why does he feel responsible? He didn't pull the trigger."

"It's our job to protect people. He wasn't able to protect her. It haunts him to the point where he's going to get very over protective of you and Rachel. Hell all five of us probably will."

"Thanks for the warning," she leaned forward a bit, "And for telling me what I wanted to know."

"You're welcome."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Okay so it's up in mid-April... I've had a case of writters block with this chapter, that's why it's so short. I'm also trying not to make Rachel and Sileny's characters too over powering, I'd rather not have tomatoes thrown at me for making what look like sue's.. MOVING ON! Chapter five will be longer and it will be up in May, also that's when the fighting will really start. Thank you for reading my filler chapters.. though I'm sad that no one said anything about ch. 3., was it really that bad? In any case please R&R, I like to know what people think.

* * *

**Power**

Chapter Four

* * *

Large double marble doors opened, followed by the sound of heels clicking as she walked from the throne room. Soon it would be time to start the fight to get these new powers, and she was more than ready to please her master again.

Another stroke of luck was how much the country had changed since they had last arrived. Most of its magic had dimmed, now only visible through those brilliant five objects. Such new power as truly intoxicating.

Out of the corner of her eye she caught a tail moving behind a pillar, "Ah, Ekin I was just coming to find you."

The kitsune turned her head, "Marijke-san, I saw you speak to our lord and thought it was best to wait."

"You're always so considerate, Ekin. Did you find what I asked for?" The vampire smiled.

"I looked," her tawny ears twitched, "However no one in their families possess a power we can use."

"Pity," She began walking with the fox demon beside her, "What about their other associations?"

"They don't have many," taking the black mirror from her sleeve she added, "However there was one I find very interesting."

Marijke looked back at her, "Who?"

"A young boy, he has a treasure that itself could prove a good addition to the jewel collection." Handing the mirror to the vampire she offered a small smile, "Don't you think?"

"Yes, you are right," She looked at the young boy then at the kitsune, "So then what shall I give you as payment this time?"

"I want to fight one of the Ronin, just one, so I might please the master by delivering one of the armors."

"Just one? You sound like you already picked him out."

"Sage of Halo, I have a history with the Date clan and this may be a chance to eat two birds at once."

"I see no problem with that," Marijke handed the mirror back to its owner, "Revenge is a healthy diet after all." She offered a smile, "I'm about to head out with Taman to start the hunting, and I'll make sure the hybrid knows not to rough the green one too much."

Ekin gave a bow, "Arigato, Marijke-san."

"No, no, thank you Ekin. You are the best informant our master has, the least I can do to show you how much that means to me, personally, is this." The vampire began walking again, this was going to be exciting.

* * *

Cye let out a yawn as he parked the vesper in his designated spot at the apartments. The day had been long as slow at the pottery shop, so much so that he even practiced manipulating the water in the back room. That had gotten exciting. Especially when he almost burst the pipes in the wall, he was glad that didn't have to be explained to the land lady. He could almost already hear his roommate roar with laughter once he told him this story.

For whatever reason it seemed like Kento had the easiest time connecting with his element of earth. Maybe it was just him, but Cye was sure that only Kento was gaining leaps and bounds in both the physical and elemental area of their training.

_It's because he's as stubborn as a rock_. A little voice told him

He chuckled at that before opening the door to the apartment, "Kento I'm back!"

The young Chinese man spun around from the kitchen, "Hey buddy welcome back. How was work?"

"Boring," he answered as he took off his shoes, "I think I only had like twenty customers today."

"Ouch," Kento shook his head, "You should have come with me to work today; I'd given anything to be bored."

"Another long day?"

"I heard from Rachel that there's some kind of convention in town, the tea shop's apparently been swamped too."

Cye glanced at the calendar, "Well they must be trying to get all the large ones in and done before fall sets in."

Kento shrugged, "I have tomorrow off so I call dibs on the laundry machine."

"Alright," he crossed the room and went into the kitchen, "So why was Rachel there today? I thought her lessen was yesterday?"

"She came by on her lunch break to return a manga to Rinfi."

"Those two have a thing for manga," the older boy commented before sticking his head in the fridge.

"Yeah-Oh did I tell you that Ryo's taken it upon himself to teach Rachel how to use a sword?"

"…" Cye lifted his head up and stared at Kento, "No. Why is he doing that? Didn't you say she's doing fine with the Kung Fu?"

"She's doing great with it. I just think Ryo's a bit paranoid because of what's happened in the past. Not that I really blame him." Something caught his eye so he looked up at the window, but saw nothing.

"Could be… what about Sileny? She still hasn't-"

Kento interrupted him, "Rachel said that they found a small dojo that's open late. It teaches Aikido."

"That is incredibly fitting," shaking his head he pulled out some leftovers, "Are we still going to meet Sage tonight?"

"Yeah, he said he'd be a bit late. He wants to talk to his little sister about what happened the other day."

Cye nodded, "I know Sage's told us that his little sister can see spirits, so it's only natural he warns her."

"Yeah, I didn't tell me family. No one really has anything that I'd call powers, so I'm sure they're in the safe zone."

"What about Yuli and Mia? I keep thinking we should warn them," he leaned back against the counter.

"I asked Ryo about that and he's going to contact them."

The older boy nodded once, "You want to hear something weird?"

Kento looked at him.

"We've done this before where the enemy has wanted our armors…but something about this time. It feels different."

The Chinese man nodded, "Yeah it does. We still don't know much about our armors powers, and we've had them since spring. Also this time we know from the enemy that we lose our armors we'll die."

"That's the only part about all this that doesn't scare me."

"What the dying part?"

He nodded, then added, "The other part about this that's different... the enemy knows about the Inferno Armor, but Marijke said they have no interest in it. _That_ is a first."

"And a good thing," His best friend pointed out. "We tried that once, we couldn't make it, so I agree with Rowen that we probably can't make it with these."

"I hope to any gods that you're right."

"In any case let's eat before we go wait for Sage."

"Right."

* * *

Sage looked out his door at his roommate, "What? Why did you tell them that? If Ryo didn't tell them then he doesn't want them to know."

"Because Sileny was right," Rowen answered without looking up from his book, "They do have a right to know those things. Now they can have a better idea of the risks involved-and besides we can't hide something like that from them. Especially with the enemy we have right now."

Walking out of his room, the blonde looked at him, "You think the enemy would use that against us? By telling Rachel and Sileny about Luna's death?"

"I think it would scare the shit out of them if it came from anyone but us," he looked up at his friend, "It was clearly bothering Sileny and she did ask."

Letting out a sigh he asked, "Does Ryo know you told them?"

"No. I've also told Sileny not to bring it up around him _or_ you."

"…"

"Sage, I wasn't thrilled that I had to tell her. I do, however, think that those two should know what we've been through in full so they can prepare themselves for anything. They're my sergeant sisters too."

He nodded slowly, "I know you're right," the blonde said, "I just feel that by telling them about Luna that we're pretty much telling them they could expect to die."

Rowen looked back at his book, _I'm sure they already knew that was possible after Keitaro strapped them to Tokyo Tower_.

"I heard that," Sage said.

"Well at least we're getting better at reading each other's minds for real."

He chuckled, "It's a work in progress."

"That it is, I still can't read Kento's thoughts though."

"They're becoming clearer for me. Speaking of Kento, I'm meeting him and Cye at the dojo. You coming?"

He shook his head, "I think I'll rest a bit like Kayura suggested, at least for tonight."

"Alright, you be okay alone?"

"Hey if I get lonely I'll join you guys."

"Right," Sage picked his keys up from the table, "Rowen I think we should warn Ryo that you told the girls."

"I'd rather not bring it up with him; it's just as sore a wound for him as it is for you." The Ronin of Strata looked at his friend again, "You're just able to deal with it better than he is. Tell Cye and Kento I said hello."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I'm going to apologize for two things here, 1) for missing the deadline-but I'm making up for that by giving you two chapters, and 2) This chapter was really hard to write for me, so if it seems inconsistent or something that's why. And my two faithful reviews you make me smile and feel warm 'n' fuzzy! ^_^ Thank you. Please R&R my story, I like to know what people think.

* * *

**Power**

Chapter Five

The breeze blew past his face bringing a slight chill to the air around him. Normally he would have welcomed a cooling breeze on a hot summer night. However since the enemy had appeared, the chill in the air made him jumpy. In the past, coldness would come over him when the enemy was near and he still carried that feeling.

"Hey you okay?"

His roommate's voice brought him back to reality, "Yeah sorry."

Kento shrugged, "I hope Sage gets here soon. It's his turn to bring the snacks."

"I'm sure he'll be here any minute," Cye looked out the window at the night sky, "He was probably waiting on Rowen."

"More likely Rowen was waiting on him; Sage takes forever to get ready."

"Very funny, Kento."

He grinned, "Truth hurts, don't it Sage?"

The blonde shook his head and set a bag on the floor of the dojo, "It's Rowen's fault that I'm late."

The older boy picked something out in his voice, "You two have a fight?"

"I wouldn't call it a fight, but I'm not too happy with him right now."

"Why not?" Kento asked sitting up.

Running his fingers through his hair, something the blonde only did when he was really irritated, he answered, "Rowen told Sileny about Luna's death."

The Chinese man blinked, "Wait. He did what?"

"You mean Ryo didn't tell Rachel about that earlier?"

"I don't think he did, at least not in full detail."

"So then why did Rowen tell Sileny about it?" Cye asked.

"Because Marijke brought up that people have died around us before, Sileny didn't remember hearing that in the story that Rachel told her, via Ryo. So when Rowen picked her up from work last night, she asked him about it and he told her."

"Then he only told her what she wanted to know," Kento summarized, "Why is that a bad thing?"

Sage paused before answering, "If Ryo didn't tell them, then he didn't want them to know."

"Keeping that a secret from those two won't change what happened," Cye pointed out.

"I think Ryo was trying to protect Rachel, that's why he didn't tell her. Since she didn't know about it when she told Sileny, in a way she too was being protected."

"Okay I can understand that," Kento chimed in, "But now that they do know there's nothing we can do about it."

"Does Ryo know that Rowen told them?"

"Not yet," the blonde answered, "Rowen doesn't want Ryo to know he told her about it. But I think Ryo should know the cat's out of the bag."

"He won't be happy about it; still I do think we should tell him. We better be sure to explain that Sileny did ask about it. And if you ask Rowen about something he will tell you, unless he's told not to. I wasn't told that the girls didn't know about Luna's death. Had they asked me about it, I would have told them."

"Me too."

Sage shook his head, _I wouldn't have_, he thought.

Cye looked at Sage.

Kento seemed to pick up on that too and changed the topic a little, "So Rowen's not coming?"

"He's staying home tonight to rest," the swordsman answered. "Is Ryo coming?"

"No. He's going to call Mia and Yuli tonight."

He nodded once, "I see." Sage walked over to the closet beside the door and opened it, "What would you guys like to use tonight?"

The elder boy stood up, "I'll take my spear."

"I'd actually like to try the sword again. Ryo showed me a trick that I want to try."

Sage chuckled, "I'll critique you."

"Be gentle."

Cye shook his head and chuckled, "That sounded so wrong."

The blonde opened his mouth to comment when something caught his attention. Closing his mouth he turned his head to left.

"Sage?" The Ronin of Hardrock looked at him.

After a moment or two he asked, "Do you guys hear that?"

Cye listened closely but all he heard was the buzzing sound of the lights, "Hear what?"

"Listen."

"I don't hear anything either Sage."

"You sure?"

"Wait a minute."

"You hear it?" Cye looked at his best friend.

Shaking his head Kento said, "No I thought I felt mov-"

Knock. Knock.

_That's not Rowen_.

Cye looked at his blonde friend when he picked up that thought. _Rowen wouldn't knock, he'd just walk in. Is your sister coming_?

_She wouldn't knock either_.

Another knock.

Kento looked at them, _A student_?

_At this hour? Not likely_.

_Your friend is out of town right_?

Sage looked at Cye and nodded.

_What should we do_?

A fourth knock. This time louder.

_Keep still maybe whoever it is will leave._

A sound came from the other side of the door; it was a rumbling noise almost like a growl.

The trio froze and looked at each other with wide eyes.

That was not White Blaze _or_ Black Blaze.

"Hm. Oh help them open the door, Taman they seems a bit distracted."

_Marijke_?

Next thing they knew something crashed through the door, sending pieces of wood flying into the room. When they finally saw the creature before them it wasn't anything like what they had seen before. It stood at least seven feet tall with the head, legs, and tail of a white bull, but the rest of its body was all human. Each hand held a large battle axe and it gave a raspy snort as it stared down the trio with brown eyes.

The black haired vampire walked calmly inside the room and stopped just beside the monster. "It's very rude not to open a door for a lady."

"What the hell is that?" Kento looked at the thing beside Marijke with wide eyes.

"It's a minotaur."

"A what?" Cye took a step back, observing the strange creature.

"Min-o-taur," She sounded the name out slowly, "Taman's a wonderful carnivorous hybrid my master picked up in Greece." Stroking the horns of the creature the vampire smiled slyly.

_Carnivorous? …Rowen! Ryo! Get over to the dojo now if you can hear me_! Kento called trying to reach out to his other friends.

Cye took a step forward, "You've brought this thing here to kill us."

"Kill you? Not really. You're not much good to me completely dead. Taking you three to my master on deaths door will work much better."

"You haven't fought us Marijke. We won't be beaten by you!"

Red eyes darted to the Chinese man, "You've never fought me or my comrades either. You five might be young but you lack the experience we have."

Gritting his teeth, Kento didn't even realize his subarmor was covering him now.

_Easy Kento_! Cye yelled into his friend's mind. _We have no idea what this thing can do_!

_I've a feeling we'll find out a lot sooner than we'd like_, Sage commented as his own subarmor covered him.

"Taman, show these children just what you can do."

The minotaur lifted the two large axes into the air before bringing them down at the trio. Sage and Kento leapt in opposite directions before the blades could touch them. Force from the blow cracked the floor and Cye had to jump up before wooden boards found their way into his legs. Holding onto the ceiling rafters he said to the others, _We need to get out of the dojo_!

_How? That bull thing is blocking the only exit_! "GAH!" The Ronin of Hardrock ducked as an axe went over his head.

_We make our own_! Sage rolled under the other axe and headed to the wall on the other side of the room, with Kento on his heels.

Cye let go of the rafter and followed the Ronin of Halo and Hardrock, all three hit the wall at the same time. They fell through and landed in the Zen-garden in the back of the dojo in a dog pile. The Ronin of Torrent was the first one to stand, he turned to look back into the dojo and saw the minotaur sprinting towards them.

"Guys move!"

All three scattered across the garden as Taman crashed through what remained of the wall. Swinging the left axe he hit the Chinese man in the abdomen, slamming him through a large stone lantern before pinning him down on the ground.

He winced and bit back a scream as pain shot up his spine, vision blurred, somewhere in his mind he could hear a voice saying something… but he couldn't make out what it was.

"Kento!" Cye and Sage yelled in unison.

Taman made a grunting growl while raising the other axe.

"No you DON'T!" The Armor of Halo manifested over its owner. Sword in hand he ran at the minotaur; the blade glowed and sparked before slicing the back of the enemy.

It wailed, whirled its head around and snorted at the warrior. Instead of bringing the axe down Taman kicked out his back feet, sending said warrior back into the warrior of Torrent. Watching them both slide back, he turned his attention away from the human he had pinned down and charged at the other two.

_Now_!

Sage rolled off his friend when the minotaur was close enough for the attack. He jumped into the air and formed a small, bright, mass of balled lightning.

Stopping, the minotaur looked at the light, but was hit by a heavy force of boiling water. It wailed again as the water threw him into the dojo, past Marijke and in another room.

Landing beside his injured friend, the blonde stared at the dojo waiting for a sign of anything.

Kento turned his head around, ignoring the pain but not hiding it well, "Did Cye get him?"

"Don't know for sure," Sage whispered back.

Marijke walked out onto the veranda smirking in Cye's direction, "Congratulations. Now he is very angry."

_Doesn't look like this is over yet, _Cye glared as the beast charged out and headed straight for him. He stood with his trident ready, however, the ground beneath the minotaur cracked then collapsed, taking the charging bull down a full ten feet. Following the trail of the crack all the way back to the fully armored Ronin of Hardrock. How Kento manage to stand after that blow was beyond him, never the less Cye was grateful for it.

Gritting his teeth to try and block out the pain, "Try getting out of that you stupid cow!"

"Kento!" Sage warned, didn't he know now was not the time to tease the enemy?

Marijke's footsteps on the ground diverted their attention back to her. "That was clever," she mused, "But it won't hold him much longer."

Glaring the Ronin of Torrent said, "So you're just going to let him fight us while you sit back and watch?" Once he said it he couldn't figure out what made him say it.

_What the hell, Cye_? Sage's voice yelled in his mind.

_I don't know it just came out_!

"Well as the saying goes, I'm a lover not a fighter," Marijke smirked, "However if you really want me to fight… so be it."

Taman jumped out the crater in the ground; he turned and snorted at the Ronin of Halo and Hardrock.

"You play with those two, Taman. I'll take this one."

The blue Ronin sneered.

Sage walked up and stood beside Kento, he whispered, "Can you do this?"

"I don't think I've a choice, buddy."

The Minotaur hunched over and pawed his back foot. Snorting he then charged at the two Ronin, horns outstretched and pointed at their targets.

The Halo Ronin gripped his sword, feeling the charge in the hilt he brought the blade up in front of him. _Move back_, he warned his friend before sending a blast of sheer white thunder at the charging beast. He saw it go for the Minotaur's forehead, the bull made that awful bellowing sound again before it was engulfed by smoke.

Kento looked at his friend then shook his head; he could still feel the ground shaking with the weight of the monster. Twirling his weapon he made ready for his own attack.

"Look out!" Cye's voice range in their ears.

Too late.

Taman rushed through the smoke, his horns pierces through the armor and into the shoulders of either Ronin prior to the bull pinning them to the cement wall.

"GAHG!" The two Ronin winced. It hurt, dear gods it hurt! Opening his violet eyes, Sage's vision was slightly blurry, as he turned to look at his shoulder he saw blood running down his armor. His arm shook so bad it was all he could do to keep a grip on his sword.

Next to him Kento lifted up his other arm and gripped the horn in his shoulder. His whole body was screaming at him in pain, and this kind of pain he couldn't ignore. Unlike Sage, he didn't have to look at his shoulder to know he was bleeding, no he could feel it. Blood was running over his armor and inside of it, down his injured arm and his torso.

"Kento! Sage!"

"Worry about yourself boy!" Marijke swung her serrated long sword down at him.

Blocking it with his trident the Ronin of Torrent glared and kicked out at the vampire, knocking her back a step or two.

Her nose twitched, "Hm. No more games for the moment." In the blink of an eye, the vampire was gone.

Cye looked around, gripping his weapon, _where did she go_? After a split second, he felt something hit him and he fell backwards. When he opened his eyes he found Marijke pinning him down, the sword was gone but her nails - no her claws her poking his throat. And for some reason he just couldn't move.

Leering down at him the vampire whispered, "I wonder how Japanese blood tastes? Hopefully as good as it smells."

His light blue eyes glared at her. Damn it if he could only move!

A loud, very angry roar caught his attention.

_White Blaze_!

Ryo jumped off the neighboring building, fully armored and swords out at the ready. He landed between Sage and Kento, using his twin swords to cut the horns of the monster that dared hurt his friends. The Minotaur bellowed loudly, holding his horns and stepping back.

White Blaze came almost out of nowhere and pounced on the vampire, pinning her to the ground giving Cye a chance to stand.

"Ryo!" Sage was relived.

He turned to look at his two friends, worry and anger written all over his face. "You two going to be okay?"

"Eventually," Kento answered, leaning back.

"Ryo this thing is a Minotaur," Sage winced, "He's wicked strong."

Marijke glared at the tiger above her, "You.. now I know why you seem familiar." She whispered. Sneering she kicked the tiger off her, standing up she went to move when a cold grip on her leg stopped her. "What is..?" Looking down her eyes widened to see ice incasing her legs. Those red eyes glowed as she glared at the Ronin of Torrent.

He glared back, "You aren't going anywhere!"

"Taman!" She called to the Minotaur. Taman was too busy fighting with the red Ronin to care. _Well this is unexpected_, she said to herself.

White Blaze crouched down and rotated his shoulders. He was going to rip the head off this vampire!

Sage somehow managed to push himself off the wall he had been pinned to, the piece of the horn was still in his shoulder and he winded as he landed on one knee. Glaring he grabbed his sword with his left hand and stood up; he was going to help Ryo. Even if it pissed the leader off.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw something dash onto the roof. Looking up he saw a medium sized cream colored fox, it pinned its ears back and barked.

Marijke looked up to the roof, "Ekin."

Taman threw Ryo into Cye, both slide and fell over White Blaze, then looked up growling at the fox.

Barking three more times the fox swished all three of her tails.

His eyes widen as realization hit the blonde warrior, _A Kitsune_.

"Seems we've been called home," Marijke glared at all of them, "Be good doggies and lick your wounds now. Things will only get harder for you from here on out."

The monster bull punched through the ice and lifted the vampire onto his bleeding shoulder. It jumped onto the roof before taking off after the three tailed fox.


	6. Chapter 6

**Power**

Chapter Six

"So that's what she meant…" Rachel stared at the kitchen wall. "No wonder Ryo didn't tell me about that… it's hard for him."

Setting her coffee down Sileny said, "It is. Also explains why he's dead set on teaching you how to use a sword. He's being protective of you."

"…"

"What with that look?"

"I get why he didn't tell me but I still wish he had.. is that bad?"

"No. I think he should have told you, especially after finding out you still remember the Dynasty Solders. And like I've said, we all run a risk being around them. But it's one we've all agreed to take."

"Yeah…"

Sileny leaned back in her head and glanced sideways at the Hello Kitty calendar, "You off work tonight?"

"Yes, Ringo covered my shift. I can work on the essay for class instead."

Nodding the older girl said, "Okay why don't you stay here with BB to start on that? I'm going to the store to pick up a few things for dinner tonight. Do you need anything?"

Rachel thought for a moment, "I think I'll go with you actually. I need new shampoo."

"That rose stuff again?"

"Hey I deal with all your lavender scented things; you can handle my rose scented things."

"Fine," the orange haired girl looked out the open screen door that led to the backyard, "Hey Black Blaze will you come here a moment please?"

There was a grunting sound before the demonic tiger walked into view, he gave a yawn and looked at the two girls.

"We need to run to the store for a couple of things," Rachel said, "You ready to come with us and scare a few people?"

He twitched an ear.

* * *

How the _**hell**_ had this happened? Rowen gripped the handlebars of his motorcycle as he parked it out in front of the market shop just down the block from Ryo's house. He cursed whoever it was that didn't let him hear Kento's call for help! He had to idea three of his friends had been in danger last night. Not until Ryo called him in a panic at four am and demanded he get over to his house.

Even though his friends told him not to worry about it that was just not going to happen.

Ryo didn't have any bandages left so they ended up tearing some of his towels so they could cover the wounds on Sage and Kento. While Cye had no gaping wounds he wasn't in much better shape, he had been knocked around pretty badly by Marijke and his whole chest was one big bruise.

Although three of his friends managed to fall asleep for a few hours, he and Ryo didn't sleep at all. Both of them had been too upset to sleep. When the sunlight started coming into the living room Rowen told Ryo that he was going to get real bandages, disinfectant, and pain killers. Ryo didn't argue, he just said to be careful.

So here he was, doing the only thing he felt he could at the moment to help his friends.

But why hadn't he heard Kento's call? This was irritating.

Holding onto his helmet, the Ronin of Strata walked into the small store and pulled out one of the baskets. Setting his helmet inside he quickly made his way down to the aisle he was looking for. Skimming the shelves carefully, he stared putting a few items into the cart.

_After Ryo and I get them really bandaged up I'm going to figure out what kept me from hearing Kento's thoughts. This is just not acceptable_.

Next to him the tall boy heard a soft grunt. He half expected to see White Blaze when he turned his head but instead it was the black tiger looking at him. Black Blaze stood at the head of the aisle, tail swishing as those golden eyes stared him down.

"Wait a minute, if you're here then that means-"

"Black Blaze don't just take off like that," Rachel's voice called to him, "You'll make everyone think you're going to kill them." She walked over to the tiger, glaring at him with shampoo in her hand.

"Rachel."

"Huh?" She turned her head and blinked twice, "Rowen." Her blue eyes drifted to the items in the basket, making her pale slightly. Looking back to her tall friend she asked, "What happened?"

Although he was pretty sure she could guess for herself, he decided to answer anyways, "Sage, Kento and Cye got in a fight last night. They're hurt bad."

Her eye widened.

"Rachel?" Sileny walked over and looked at Rowen; she was able to put two and two together without asking.

"I'll explain in full detail later, I need to pay for these and get back."

"Do you need any help?" Sileny asked.

Rachel joined her, "We're done shopping so we could just follow you over. Please Rowen?"

"Alright, it might be a good idea to have three people there who aren't hurt."

"Where are they?"

"Ryo's place."

* * *

Ryo sat on the floor of his apartment between Sage and Kento. He hadn't moved an inch since Rowen left to get more medical supply. All he was doing was sitting there with his attention focused on the sounds of his three injured friend breathing.

He was tired and bruised too, but there was just no way he could get any sleep right now. No matter how badly he wanted it. The Ronin of Wildfire was too wired to even try.

Last night after he brought his friends home, before he called Rowen, everything was a blur. He remembered bringing them here with White Blaze and Cye, Rowen arrived at some point, tearing the towels up and.. all the blood.

Gritting his teeth the black haired boy looked at the two horns laying on the kitchen table, the ends were all red and sticky. If he ever saw that thing again he's cut its whole head off.

Behind him he felt White Blaze lift his head up. Rowen must be back from the store.. that hadn't taken long. Still Ryo didn't move.

The door to the apartment opened, "Ryo I brought us some help."

He blinked, "What?" turning he saw Rachel, Sileny and Black Blaze walk in. "Oh… I thought you went to the store?"

"He ran into us there," Rachel walked over and set a bag on the table then her eyes caught sight of the two horns. Her eyes widened.

"Um pray tell, why are there two bull horns here?" Sileny looked at the two boys.

"Marijke attacked last night with some monster that was half man and half bull," Ryo explained.

"…A minotaur?" The two girls said in unison.

Rowen blinked, "You've heard of it?"

"What is it exactly?" Ryo asked.

"The Minotaur is a creature in Greek mythology," Rachel explained, "It lived on a island and every year people had to sacrifice people to it. They were its food and they'd be sent down in a labyrinth to die."

"In the myth," Sileny began, "The Minotaur was a curse put on King Minos who pissed off the God of the Sea, Poseidon. Poseidon is known for having a temper to match his brother Zeus."

"Zeus? Isn't he the King of the Gods in Greek myth?" Rowen asked.

Rachel nodded, "Zeus, Poseidon and Hades are all brothers."

"Anyways, the Minotaur was a half breed child between a bull and the wife of Minos, after the baby monster was born Minos had it locked away in a maze that it couldn't escape from. Not long after King Minos had a huge war with Athens, once the King of Athens found out about the minotaur and its hunger for human flesh he panicked.

"He decided to strike a deal with Minos, if he leaved Athens alone then every nine years he'd send seven Athenian boys and seven Athenian girls to be eaten by the Minotaur. When the time came a young prince in Athens named Theseus decided this was all wrong. He went to the Minotaur's labyrinth in Crete, and with the help of Mino's daughter Ariadne, he killed the monster."

"Is this what you were up reading until one this morning?"

"This and a few other things, yes."

"If it was killed in the myth," All eyes turned to Cye who was laying on the sofa, "Then how is it we saw one last night?"

"Good question, here's another," Ryo leaned back against the tiger, "Why was a kitsune with them?"

Rachel stared at Ryo, "First a vampire, now a Minotaur and a kitsune too?"

"What else does this creep have?" Sileny put her hands on her hips.

"I'm sure we'll find out soon," Rowen began setting the bandages out from the bag. "Sage and Kento still sleeping?"

"Yeah."

Cye sat up against the arm rest of the sofa, his whole body hurt. Like he had three large object thrown at him… oh wait he did.

"Do you want some water Cye?" Ryo asked.

The potter nodded, "And pain killer if there is any left."

"I went and bought more this morning," Rowen held up a bottle of aspirin, "Contributing where I can."

Cye gave a tired smile, "Thanks Rowen." _Really we're not mad, stop giving that look already_.

Rowen gave a small sigh and took the rest of the medical supply out of the bag.

Sileny watched the tall boy closely, something wasn't right.

A small rumbling sound caught everyone's attention… and all eyes went to Ryo who was blushing slightly.

Cye asked, "Was that your stomach?"

"…Yeah."

"Dears gods when was the last time you guys ate?"

Silence.

"Why does that not surprise me?"

Rachel smiled a bit and stood up, walking into the kitchen she said, "Hey Ryo would you lend Sileny your kitchen so she can fix everyone some brunch?" Taking a glass out of the cupboard she filled it with water and added, "She's a better cook than I am, this way while she fixes up something we can change the bandages on Sage and Kento."

Sileny looked at Ryo, "That okay with you?"

He nodded, "There isn't much here that's not frozen though."

"That's fine," She walked into the kitchen as the other girl walked out.

Rowen handed the bottle of pain killer to Rachel, who smiled at him as she took it. She carefully stepped over Kento and Sage's legs, handing the water and pills to Cye. "So what happened exactly? Other than a Minotaur fought you guys?"

"Well Kento and I went to the dojo to meet up with Sage," Cye began.

* * *

By the time Sage and Kento finally woke up it was late in the afternoon. Rachel and Sileny had been there all day helping in any way they possibly could, even telling the guys what they knew about vampires in mythology. Although Sage and Kento hadn't been awake long, they made it clear they weren't mad at him for not showing up.

He knew he shouldn't let this eat him, but it was. It really was.

_Why can't I put my figure on this_?

The door behind him slid open, he heard footsteps come to a stop beside him.

"Rowen you've been out here for over an hour, what's wrong? This isn't like you."

Midnight blue eyes turned to look at the orange haired girl next to him. Sileny looked generally concerned, "Alright." He took a deep breath, "You remember how Kento said he called to Ryo and I for help?"

She nodded.

"I never heard him."

Those blue eyes blinked at him, "What?"

"I didn't hear him call for help. I didn't even know they were in trouble until Ryo called the apartment and told me to get my ass over here. Before Kento finally passed out he said he called us both." He gripped the railing until his knuckles turned white, "I can't figure out why I didn't hear him."

She watched him closely, "Well before you break the railing there or make yourself bleed may I offer a theory?"

"Sure. I've thought of everything though."

"Have you thought that maybe you didn't hear him because your elements are opposite?"

Rowen looked at her.

"The elements of earth and air are opposites, they don't get along well. Maybe you didn't hear him because for a rock to talk to the wind is a little difficult."

He loosened his grip and kept looking at her.

"When he feels like himself again the two of you should practice. I bet if you ask Ryo or Cye, they may not be able to hear each other well if at all."

"…Thanks Sileny."

"Of course."

They heard the phone start ringing and while Rowen didn't move, Sileny went back inside leaving the door wide open.

Ryo got up from the sofa, where he had been sitting with Cye, and picked the phone up, "Sanada residence, Ryo speaking."

Rachel walked out of the kitchen and handed Cye another glass of water before looking at her other friend. She blinked when he saw Ryo pale.

"What do you mean Yuli's missing?" He asked panicked.

Cye stared at the back of his friend with wide eyes.

Rowen turned around to look inside the apartment, had he heard that right?

* * *

**A/N::** DUN DUN DDDDDDDDDDUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNN! I'll try to get you chapter 7 before August, I make no promises because I'm going to have both work and school this summer. Please tell me what you thought about these two chapters.


	7. Chapter 7

**Power**

Chapter Seven

* * *

Ekin stepped onto the stone floor of the dimly lit hallway, the evening had been more eventful than the kitsune had imagined. Twitching her nose she turned to her left and bowed deeply, "Haytie-Sama."

"Good job tonight, Ekin. You were able to secure the item with little resistance."

Standing up straight she said, "True. However I was not able to bring it here without the human child. It appears that they are bound to one another."

"If this jewel is like all the others we have found, it will only be free if the boy is killed." Haytie looked at the room his servant came from before adding, "For now we shall keep the human alive. In a few days we should be able to let Necalli eat him."

"Necalli? What about Marijke? I imagine she's hungry."

"She's already feasting," Motioning for his servant to follow, Haytie began walking down the hall. "Taman will need about a month to recover. Those Ronin are far more skilled than I had anticipated. Marijke said you knew the sure name of one of them."

"Yes my lord, the one in the green armor. He's of the Date clan; I have a history with them."

"I see. What can you tell me about this clan? Or the others that these young men are a part of?"

The kitsune thought for a moment, "The only clan I have no knowledge of is the Rei Faun clan. However I will tell you want I can tell you much about the others. I believe I should also include some of the Samurai history, since they follow most of the old codes."

A wave of his hand was a sign for her to continue.

* * *

Ryo ran down the streets of Shibuya dodging the crowds and anything else in his way, eyes looking around wildly for any sign of something really unusual. No matter what way he thought of it he kept having this sinking feeling that the enemy had Yuli. The only question was why would they kidnap him?

_"__However I should leave on a note, should you have any living family who have strong powers, send them away. Myself and a fellow servant would show mercy, yet, my lord would seek out their powers for himself."_

He didn't have power like they did. He wasn't related to them. Did Marijke go back on her words? Or was there any truth to them to start with?

_It didn't sound like a lie_, a small voice in the back of his mind said.

"Ryo!"

He stopped and looked behind him, "Kayura."

Stopping she took a moment to catch her breath, "We've finished searching the city."

"No sign?"

She shook her head, "Nothing," Looking up she added, "But we have heard from Cye."

Blue eyes blinked.

"He said that the girls gave him an idea why Yuli could have been kidnapped."

"Why?"

"Because he still has the Jewel of Life," Rowen walked up to them with Sekhmet.

Ryo felt like the bottom of his stomach was going to give out. The Jewel of Life… he completely forgot about it.

"What could they do with that? The jewel doesn't act when it's told."

"The enemy might not know that," Sekhmet said, "this vampire told you that they'd go after those with power right?"

Both boys nodded.

"Yuli doesn't have power like you two, but that jewel does. Could they be using the boy as bait?"

"I don't think so," Rowen shook his head, "That's something you'd do. So far this enemy doesn't give that impression."

"Then why would they have him?"

"Lets find a way to ask them," Kayura said. "Trap them if we have to."

Rowen crossed his arms over his chest, "How by using ourselves as bait?"

"Well they do want you guys."

"I don't think that's a good idea with Cye, Sage and Kento injured right now."

Sekhmet smirked, "Be easier to get them though."

Ryo let out a deep sigh, "I don't want those three out there." He glared at Sekhmet when he said this.

Kayura looked around then grabbed Ryo's hand; leading him and the other two into an ally way. "I'm sure one of them will be back soon. Still right now if you two can use yourselves as bait-"

"How?" Rowen asked. "We don't really have a way to reach them."

Kayura looked down and held her hands up in defeat.

"Keep an eye on your three friends," Sekhmet said rather calmly, "They'd be foolish not to take a chance to attack with three men down."

The taller boy gave a slight nod.

Ryo felt the knot in his stomach tighten, "So we just wait for them to come after us? What about Yuli? For all we know they might be-"

"Ryo I don't like this either," Rowen interrupted, "I want to find Yuli and rip them apart just as much as you do. But right now we can't do anything except look for him in the city or wait for them to come to us again."

He growled and punched the wall next to him, _hard_.

Kayura blinked when she saw blood on his knuckles, "Ryo…"

Sekhmet shook his head, "I will catch up to Dais and Cale. Kayura you should return soon."

Shaking her head she said, "I'm going to stay and help."

"Alright," the warlord gave a small nod before he turned and walked out of the ally way.

"Kayura you don't have to stay," Ryo looked at her, "I know there is still unrest in the Nether Realm so if you want to go back you can."

"I want to stay here and help you guys," She looked at them, "If they attack I can at least try to keep Kento and Sage out of the battle."

"I'm sure it's more Kento than Sage you'd have to worry about," Rowen said, "Sage is smart enough to know when to stay down. Kento's my friend and all yet when he hears this he'll be impossible."

"We might need that," Ryo shook his injured hand, "I guess we should get back."

"You better stop your hand from bleeding first, the girls won't like that."

"…"

* * *

"For the love of the gods Kento don't move that arm!"

"Sileny I can't feel the pain right now, its okay."

"You're going to re-open that wound," the blonde looked at his friend, "Try using your left hand or let someone get it for you."

Cye shook his head, "Please don't shout you'll give me another headache."

Rachel frowned, "Kento you can move your arm but please don't move it that high."

He slowly brought his arm back down and reached up with the left, "Sorry…"

"Just try not to do it again; I've no idea how long that will take to heal."  
_A while_ Sage thought as he put his hand over his own injured shoulder. _It will leave a scar too.. how will I explain this to grandfather_? He felt a nudge on his back, "I'm okay White Blaze." The blonde whispered.

Cye looked at his two injured friends, biting down on his tongue so he wouldn't voice his worries. Not that he was in any good condition either. Although he was better off than they were.

Sitting back down beside his roommate, the young china man took a drink from his cup. "I wonder if they are having any luck?"

Everyone in the room knew what he was talking about.

Against Ryo's wishes, Cye had told his two comrades that Yuli was missing. The only reason they hadn't jumped out the window to help look for him was because the two tigers where at the doors.

"I hope so," Rachel looked to the window, "It's getting late."

"I doubt it."

All eyes turned to the orange-haired girl.

"What? If they found Yuli then they would have told you three, right?"

"…"

"They also would have told us if they didn't."

"Even after we told them, and I did tell Ryo and Rowen about that."

"How'd they take that?"

"Better than I thought," Cye admitted to Rachel.

A thought struck Sileny, "Cye."

"Do you have trouble hearing Ryo's thoughts?"

He blinked and opened his mouth to answer but then the door opened.

"We're back," Ryo's voiced dripped with annoyance.

"No luck then?" Sage asked.

"None," Rowen answered as he closed the door behind Kayura. "We looked all over the city and found nothing."

Kayura sat on the floor beside Sileny, "I'm pretty sure the enemy has him. I can't think of anything else."

Kento gripped the cup, "So then what do we do?"

"We wait."

"That's your answer?" He glared.

Rowen gave him a look that would kill on sight.

Kayura jumped in, "There isn't anything else we can do. If the enemy has him then we'll need to wait for them to come to us. We have no idea where the enemy holds base. It could be here on earth or in a realm similar to the Neather Realm. I don't think you'll have to wait very long though."

"Why's that?" Rachel asked.

"Sage, Cye, and Kento are injured. Three of the five are down that gives the enemy the advantage."

Sage became very still as he looked at the blue haired girl.

"They'll attack while we are down," Cye confirmed.

"That would make the most sense for them," Sileny looked at the five guys, "It's not really an opportunity someone would pass up."

Kento set the cup down on the table, "I don't like waiting."

"None of us do."

"Can't you do something to draw the enemy to you instead of waiting?" Rachel asked.

Cye shook his head, "Not really, there isn't a way to do that without risking more injuries."

Rachel shifted in her spot and said quietly, "Ich wünschte, wir könnten helfen."

Ryo looked at her.

Sileny closed her eyes and shook her head, "Rachel don't."

Kayura could feel tension growing in the air from everyone around her, _Maybe I should take the girls home_? She glanced at the Ronin Leader.

_I want them to stay where I can see them_.

_Ryo they aren't targets_.

"Rachel. Sileny."

They looked at him.

"You two okay to stay the night?"

"Only if we can get to class on time tomorrow," Rachel said.

Sileny nodded.

Cye looked at Ryo, "I can take Rachel to school; I have to go to the shop for a delivery."

"I'll go with him," Kento said.

"I'll have an escort. Lucky me," Rachel leaned back and smiled.

Sage looked at Sileny.

"Class starts at ten."

"I'll take you," Rowen stifled a yawn.

She looked at him, "You sure? That's a drive."

"It's me or the tiger."

Ryo looked at him, _You want someone to go with you two?_

_ No. I'll explain later_.

* * *

White Blaze gazed at the sleeping forms on the floor. Despite what was going on he was glad they were getting some rest. They needed it badly. Turning his head to the black tiger across the room he twitched an ear. _Black Blaze do you think the gateway is still there_?

The tiger lifted up his head, _It's still there yes, however it's locked_.

A grunt noise came from the white tiger, Locked? How was it locked?

Keitaro locked it before he hung himself.

Brown eyes narrowed, He's the only one who can unlock it isn't he?

_Yes_. Black Blaze let out a yawn, _I don't think we'll need to take them there. I'm sure someone will come after the boys soon. As for Yuli, Haytie won't kill him just yet_.

_How can you be so sure? He is not merciful_.

_If he just wants the Jewel of Life he will only kill the boy if he has to. And if he does he'll wait until Yuli is too weak for the jewel to react_. He lowered his head, _Now rest we'll need it too_.

* * *

**A/N:** Hey look a chapter! ...a short one but still a chapter! Yay me I had time to write a chapter! It bounced around a bit but I don't want to bombard you all with strictly action scenes, that gets to be a bit much for me and I'm sure for you. Now if the translator device I'm using is correct, what Rachel said in German is "I wish we could help." If there is someone out there reading this who speaks German will you pretty please verify this? Chapter Eight will be up either on Halloween or Nov. 1st.


	8. Chapter 8

First off I can't apologize enough about this chapter being so friggin' late. My computer got a nasty little virus and we had to wipe the hard drive. Thus killing my original chapter eight and the other two I was going to surprise you all with. So I've had to rewrite this chapter from what I could remember, I'll try to get you guys chapter nine before the new year. Please R&R, I always like feedback.

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

It was past two in the morning and he was still wide awake. He needed rest for many reasons, first he was injured, second his young friend was in danger and he had to be as close to his best as he possibly could be. Even though they had no idea how to get to Yuli or where he might be.

The problem was his brain wouldn't shut off.

Images of the battle with that thing the girls called a Minotaur kept replaying in his mind. Ways to get the enemies attention then force the location of Yuli out of them also taunted him. And then somewhere in the back of his mind was the fear that maybe it was not the enemy that took the young boy but… maybe a human. It wasn't impossible.

Next to him he felt his friend stir.

"This is unlike you, Sage," Cye sat up on his elbows looking up at the blonde, "You don't usually let on that you're awake after things like this."

"I don't like this, Cye."

"No one does."

"We need to find a way to get to Yuli."

Cye sat all the way up, "I agree. But we have to get the enemy first, and we've no idea when they will attack net."

"Soon," another voice from just across the room said, "After all three of five are down."

"You almost sound like you have an idea, Rowen," Blue-green eyes darted across the room. "Would you be willing to share?"

Now it was Rowens turn to sit up, he leaned forward and said, "Maybe. Since Ryo and I are the only ones who aren't injured they'll probably come soon. We just need to have some kind of idea on what to do when that happens. Like if we can lure whoever, or whatever, it is to a place and get the drop on them."

"Sounds good, and I sense there is a 'but' in there somewhere."

"There is," His hands balled into fists, "I can't hear Kento's thoughts. I think I only have once and now I'm not even sure of it."

Cye recalled the question Sileny had asked him earlier, "I can't always hear Ryo's thoughts," He admitted, "Sometimes I feel like I have an idea of what he's saying but it's not always clear."

"I don't even get that," Rowen said.

"Hm. I can hear all four of you just fine," Sage looked between them, "Sometimes I can even catch tid bits of Kayura and the Warlords talking."

"How do you manage that?" Cye asked puzzled.

The blonde gave a shrug, "It's not hard for me, and I'm not trying to brag here."

"Never came across that way," Midnight blue eyes grazed over the forms of the sleeping girls before returning to his friends, "I told Sileny about this earlier and she offered a theory that I'm starting to think could be right."

"What did she say?" Cye asked.

"The reason we might be having problems with this could be because of our elements. Since mine is air and Kento's is earth they are opposites. Cye, you're water and Ryo's fire they've always been opposites."

Sage thought for a moment, "It does make sense really. You guys need to get over it somehow, until then I'll just be the telephone."

"Sorry about that," the brunette looked at him.

He shrugged.

"Back to the bigger problem," Rowen leaned forward, "We need to come up with some kind of plan, I don't want to fight blind battles like last time."

"If we lure them anywhere it has to be away from the city," Sage pointed out, "That might be easier said than done."

"The harbor," Cye looked at them, "It's getting colder so not as many people will be there."

"That's true."

"Sounds good to me. Let's hope it works because I'd like to try it tomorrow."

"Are you crazy?" Sage stared at the tall blue haired man.

"Possibly," he folded his arms. "We need to bring them to us. You, Cye, and Kento are hurt right now. If Ryo or I can lure one of them out we might be able to jump them and find out if they do have Yuli and how to get him back."

"You're taking Sileny to class in the morning with your sub armor under your clothes?" Cye saw him nod, "And you really don't think she'll notice? Or that they won't attack you if she is with you?"

"I'm sure she'll notice she just won't say anything about it. The girls aren't blind to what we do, they just turn the other way."

"I don't like it," Sage said.

"Neither do I. It might not even work, I'll still try it."

Cye let out a long sigh, "I guess we better do the same then when Kento and I take Rachel to school."

* * *

When this day was over she was go going to take a long hot bath. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Sileny knew this was only prepping her for anything to come her way in the future. Be it with the guys or in her career… when she chose one.

Rachel had gone to school with her escorts an hour and a half ago. Sileny had been at their house with Rowen and Black Blaze since then. The latter of the two was watching her looking frantically for the book she had the other night.

"Sileny."

SMACK.

"OW!" She held her head that she just hit on the metal shelf she put her shoes on. "Skit Rowen!"

"Sorry… what are you doing?"

"I'm looking for a book."

His eyes looked around the room covered in clothes and papers, "You could make a book with everything you've tossed around in here."

"Oh like your room's any cleaner," She glared.

He looked over at a triangular stand with an old tattered sheet over it, "What is this?" He reached out to touch it.

"Don't even think about it!" She hit his shoulder with a book, "I'm not done with that yet."

He looked at the book, "What is that then?"

"This is a book about mythical beasts," Sileny answered, "You guys can borrow it."

"Does it say how to defeat them?"

"Some of them yes."

"What about the minotaur?"

"The only Minotaur in myths I found is the one I told you about and it was beheaded. Marijke is a vampire… that can go in the sunlight, so maybe a stake or silver," she paused, "If what Sage saw really is a kitsune I haven't the slightest idea on what to do with that."

"I'm not sure either," He took the book from her and opened it up, "Thanks."

"No problem, we should head out or I'll be late," walking past him and out of the room she added, "And so you can go all over town and get noticed."

"You where listening?" He followed her.

"You guys didn't whisper," the Swedish girl replied.

The black tiger followed them, his tail twitched in irritation. His golden eyes glanced at the book the Ronin of Strata now held in his hand. He'd need to be sure they'd read that.

"Sileny I think you and Rachel might have to stay away from us until we come to you two."

She stopped at the door then turned to look at him, "They aren't after us-"

"No." He grabbed his jacket, "But, you two might get in our way or they could go back on their word."

Taking her keys from the table and her own jacket from the sofa, "I know that, so does Rachel. Still I think you forgot something."

"You agreeing to take risks?"

"No." She opened the front door and said, "Keitaro captured the two of us then tied us to Tokyo Tower and the five of you where nowhere in sight when that happened. We don't have to be next to you for something to happen to us."

He visibly tensed, "Which is why Black Blaze is with you now."

"Not feeling much safer."

The tiger twitched an ear.

* * *

Looking up at the school building brought back a feeling of nostalgia to the Ronin of Hardrock. Even though he had graduated months ago it felt like he could still pull on that uniform-if he had it-and do it all over again.

Rachel stopped and looked at them, "You guys don't need to worry about picking me up. I'm sure you'll be busy."

The elder of the two said, "What makes you think we'll be busy?"

"I know you guys well enough by now that I can tell when you're planning on something. So just go ahead and do that, don't worry about Sileny or me for now. Do what you need to do to get Yuli back safe."

"Well we don't really have an idea for that yet."

"Put your heads together, Rowen isn't the only smart one." She turned around and walked towards the school, "I'll see you guys later." She shouted back to them.

Kento looked at Cye, "I'll still worry," he said.

"We all will," Turning he and his friend started walking back to the sidewalk, "After all they did take Yuli. Jewel or not I don't think I trust them not to take the girls now."

"Oh don't worry, those two are of no importance to us."

Both boys whirled around to see nothing around them.

_Cye? You sense anything?_

_No, you?_

"My the two of you are very young for such duties."

"Who's there?" Kento demanded.

"Ah yes, that's right you boys can't see me from where you are."

Slowly both looked up to the rooftop they saw a black figure outlined there.

"Now you've found me, come up here both of you. I'd like a better look at you before the fun starts."

Out of instinct Kento took a step back before he glared daggers at whoever that was up there. _What do you think_? He glanced at Cye.

_We_ _should go up. I don't want to but we need to see if they really do have Yuli and why_. Glancing to his friend they both nodded before charging at the building. They shot up from the ground, grabbed hold of the fence on the roof and landed on the other side. He was the first to turn around and see what had been talking to them.

It was not a human.

No, it would be better to say only the head was human. The rest of the creature was anything but human. The body was like a giant lion and the tail looked like a scorpion tail. When it grinned at them, like the Cheshire Cat, three rows of shark-like teeth. "My you are young ones indeed," The voice almost had an echo like sound now that they were closer.

Kento stared at the creature, "What the hell are you…?"

"I am a Manticore, and older creature. Not unlike Taman really, and I'm aware you've both already met him." Moving a large paw he said, "My name is Necalli. That's really all you need to know, so please tell me about yourselves." His tail began swishing.

"We have our own questions," Cye glared.

"I'm sure you do."

"Are you the one who took Yuli?"

The Manticore looked puzzled for a moment then said, "Oh! The young boy with that claw shaped jewel. Yes we have him, though you really should worry about yourselves. The child is fine for now."

"Why did you guys take him?"

"If he gives up the jewel he'll be let free." Necalli said with a roll of his eyes, "I'm far more interested in the five of you so I'm not the one to ask about the boy." He stood up and began walking towards the two humans, "How old are you both? You look like you're near your twenties."

Getting to a stance the warriors didn't even realize their subarmors had covered them.

"Hm," the creature paused, "By those colors I'd say you are the Ronins of Hardrock and Torrent. You are good warriors indeed to be ready to fight like this after your encounter with Taman the other day."

"You seem to know a lot about us," Kento glared.

"I only know a handful of things really," his grin widened, "I'd like to know much more."

The elder of the two did want the answer; still he couldn't stop from asking, "Why?"

"It's one of my quirks to know my pray before killing it. Well it's more of a hobby really, I collect the stories of my pray to read later when I've nothing to hunt."

"As if we'd just tell you our story and let you kill us," the young Chinaman snapped.

The Manticore began walking towards them, "Oh but you've told me so much already. You're skilled warriors of strong families, close friends, a high tolerance for pain, both use close combat weapons, one controls the earth while the other is water, and you are awfully young to have such hardness to your eyes. Your past battles must have really taken years from your lives."

They took a step back in unison when their enemy was only five feet from them.

"I'll learn more while the fun starts," it crouched down and rolled his shoulders.

_Kento we have to get away from the school now_!

_Go_!

Together they flipped back onto the railing of the rooftop then down to the trees in the courtyard, bouncing off the branches they headed out the back way of the school into the always.

Necalli chuckled, "So protective of others too. How heroically predictable." With one swift jump he was off the building and in the courtyard chasing after them.

Inside the school, two young girls stared out the window at the scene they just saw before looking at one another.

* * *

_At least we got away from the school_, Kento looked at Cye.

Cye nodded, _and that thing is still following us_.

Think anyone at the school saw us?

_I hope not_, he looked over his shoulder, _we need to find a place where we won't be seen._

_ Lets just get out of this ally,_ the younger of the two hopped onto a closed garbage can and bounded off the walls of the buildings with his friend on his heels. They reached the top of an office building with just enough time to turn around before the Manticore was there.

"You two really are fast," It commented.

Is that all you do? Pay compliments to your enemy?" Cye glared.

"No I just give praise where I see it." Again, the Manticore crouched down, this time he gave to warning and leapt at the two boys.

The Ronin of Hardrock summoned his naginata and hit the enemy in the side of the face, pushing it off to the side with the blade. Ignoring the pain that shot through his shoulder and torso; he watched at the Manticore slid to the side of the building.

The Ronin of Torrent stared as the enemy raised its head, "He's not even scratched!"

"I'm not easy to hurt like Taman."

"Shit," Kento said through gritted teeth.

Holding his yari, _Maybe if we attack together_?

_I'll distract him, you use that jet thingy_! Kento slammed the hilt of his naginata on the ground, the cement of the building warped and moved up and around the enemy.

Necalli was actually surprised by this, moving to get away he was suddenly shot back through the cement by a large spiraling wave of freezing water. The rawness of cold water burned at his body before it stopped and he found himself six blocks from the enemy.

"That wasn't what I had in mind.." Kento stared at his friend, "What was that?"

Cye was just as surprised, "I don't know... I haven't done that before."

"You don't even know your own strength, huh?" Necalli charged at them.

"Do that thing again, buddy," Kento got ready to strike.

"I don't remember how I did it in the first place!"

_Just relax and think about the attack_, a soft voice said to Cye's mind.

He blinked, _what the_…? He didn't have the time to think about what he heard; the Manticore was almost back to them. This time the elder of the boys swung his weapon at the creatures head while his friend thrust his naginata at the front legs.

The Ronin of Hardrock managed to get in a blow at the same time the other Ronin did. They pushed the enemy back to the side again, however the latter felt a sharp pain in his back before realizing he was being dragged down to.

"Cye!"

Sharp pain shot up his back and his vision blurred slightly, but he got back up, "I'm okay," he lied.

The Manticore gave a low bellowing growl before he leapt into the air, only to be brought down by the large white tiger that came out of nowhere.

"White Blaze!" The two warriors said in unison.

Necalli smirked at the beast, "So we meet again."

The tiger roared and showed his teeth in a way that neither warrior had seen before. It scared them just how vicious their tiger friend looked.

_What does he mean by again_? Cye asked as he shook his head trying to clear out the fog that threatened to take him over.

Glancing over Kento saw his friend stagger and sway, "Cye..."

"I'm.." he trailed off as the scene began to spin and the pain took over. The world went black as he fell backwards.

"Shin!" Kento shouted and caught him before he hit the ground.

"I'm impressed he lasted that long," The Manticore smirked, "My poison usually works faster."

"What?"

White Blaze let out the loudest roar the human had ever heard, he was on the enemy in seconds, scratching Necalli's face with his back claws and tearing at his tail with his teeth. Necalli bit the tiger's leg, causing it to yelp and the tiger bit down on the tail harder. They summer salted before separating themselves and stood on their hind legs, swatting their clawed paws at one another.

The Manticore swung its tail around to pierce White Blaze; the tiger saw the attack coming and got out of the way. The scorpion tail hit the brick wall beside the door to the building below. Howling in pain the Manticore scratched the back hip of the tiger, drawing blood.

"White Blaze!" Kento shouted with another, he turned to see Ryo, Sage, and Rowen land on the building. They immediately ran over to Kento and the fallen Cye.

"What happened?" Sage demanded.

"That thing poisoned him," Kento glared his eyes never leaving the Manticore.

_What the hell is that thing_? Ryo's eyes widened at the beast.

Necalli observed the new three warriors who had come, while he tried to pull his tail from the bricks. By their armors he knew who were Wildfire, Halo, and Strata, although they were so very young too. Why did these babies have such new powers that knew nothing about? "At least I don't have to track you all down now."

_Or the other way around_, Rowen thought bitterly, "Hey Kento you holding him there tightly?" Hi eyes darted to the bricks.

"Oh yeah, that thing won't able to get that tail out."

Realization hit Necalli, he wasn't stuck in the bricks; he was being trapped there by them. Brown eyes followed a mound in the ground that went from the brick wall to the naginata the Ronin of Hardrock held in his hand. _This one has more skill that I originally thought_, he snarled.

Sage gripped the hilt of his sword, _Kento did he say if they have Yuli_?

_Yeah they have him_.

Ryo glared daggers at the beast, "Hey you, how do we cure our friend and get the other back?"

"If the boy hands over the jewel to my master he will be able to return unharmed," He answered, "As for Cye of Torrent, there is no way to save him. No one lives long after being stabbed by my tail."

The next few things that happened where a blur to Necalli. He saw smoke roll off the twin katanas Wildfire held, the air around him became heavy and stale. White Blaze jumped him; the two fought even though he was trapped.

Pulling back on his bow, the Ronin of Strata fired three arrows that all hit the beast in the torso.

Ryo sent a wall of bright red flames at him, just giving the tiger enough time to get out of the way.

Necalli screamed in pain and thrashed as the flames engulfed him. His scream got louder as he felt a swift and piercing pain from his tail. He was able to rolls off to the side saw the Ronin of Halo had cut off his tail. Shock and a growing pain took over; causing him to run off the side of the building.

Kento wanted to go after that monster just as badly as the others did, but his mind was quickly turned to his poisoned friend, "Guys I think we're losing him!" He called in a panic.

"Someone call Sekhmet!"

"Damn it Cye don't you even think of leaving!"

"We have to get him out of here now!"

"Is it even safe to move him?"

White Blaze limped over and looked at the rapidly paling face of Cye. _God damn you Haytie. You will not take another one from me_!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

* * *

The room was cold and he couldn't see a thing. He had been in danger and feared for his own life many times before but something about this time really scared the young boy. Even though his eyes where wide open, it was dark enough they almost felt closed. If it was just darkness he could deal with that. But there were a bunch of other things about this room that bothered him more.

Firstly, he knew he was in a dungeon. That much he could remember. Now how exactly he got there and why, he had no idea. One minute he was walking home from school and the next he woke up here.

Then there was the smell of the place. It smelled damp, like the old wooden temples did after a heavy down poor. Heck the very air was damp and cold, so cold. If he could see Yuli was sure he'd see his breath.

Finally there was the feeling of the very air itself. Stale, heavy, and a feeling like it was clinging to his skin and clothes.

Yuli had no idea how long he'd been there either. Though he knew it had to be a long time just for how he felt. He was so hungry that his stomach hurt. He was also tired, if he wasn't so scared he'd probably have fallen asleep already. But right now that was not possible.

_Guys I hope you can get me out of here soon_… he thought. Against his sternum he could feel the Jewel of Life give off warmth to him.

* * *

"Satsuki stop!" Rachel grabbed her wrist, "We can't leave school for this!"

The girl turned around to look at her older friend, "You saw that thing!"

"That's why we can't leave! We don't know what it is and I'm sure Cye and Kento will be fine. They'll call the guys if they need help."

"What if they don't get there in time?"

"Oh yeah because the two of us can easily take down whatever the hell that thing was," the German girl glared, "I don't know how skilled you are but I don't think we'd stand much of a chance."

"So you think we should do nothing?"

"Satsuki you saw that thing, it could kill us. Do you really want your brother to find you dead?"

"…"

"I didn't think so. I don't really like just staying here either and acting like I didn't just see two good friends chase a monster. But we'd be in the way if we went after them, we have to stay away."

Closing her eyes tightly the young Japanese girl clenched her fists before punching the wall next to her. "God damn it!"

* * *

Sekhmet studied the festering wound on the back of the poisoned warrior, "I've never seen something like this before."

"Is there anything you can do for him?" Sage asked as he paced the ground.

"I've been able to stop the spreading of the poison, but there isn't much else I can do." Sekhmet looked the blonde warrior before turning his attention to Hardrock "Let me see that tail again."

Kento brought the scorched tail over, "Doctors usually make cures for snake poison from the same poison right?"

"Yes, most of the time," Sekhmet nodded, "However that takes time, and Cye is rapidly running out of it."

"Have you ever heard of a Manticore?" Ryo asked trying his damndest to keep calm.

"No, maybe you should ask your two girlfriends?"

There was a silence as they boys all looked at each other. "Wait a minute," Rowen pulled a small book from the pocket of his jacket, "Sileny gave me this."

"What is it?" Sage asked.

"A book on mythical creatures. She handed it to me before I took her to school today."

"Quick look and see if it's in there."

"I'm looking, I'm looking" he quickly thumbed through the pages, secretly thankful the book was in Japanese and not Swedish.

Sekhmet looked at the stinger of the tail, "Sage what color did you say the liquid on your sword was before you cleaned it off?"

"A greenish yellow, it reminded me of bial."

"What does the color have to do with any of this?" Ryo asked.

"Normally poison doesn't have a color-"

"Yours sure does."

"Mine is not a normal form of poison, my acid is of higher concentration. This smells like it might be neurotoxin but it gleams in the light the same way hemotoxin does."

All of them froze, "Wait.. this could be both?"

"Possibly."

"I know how this is about to sound, but what is hemotoxin? I know neurotoxin is when the nerve system is being attacked."

Sage looked at the leader, "Hemotoxin is the kind that attacks red blood cells."

"…"

Sighing heavily the green haired man looked at the Ronin of Wildfire, "The poison won't spread but I can't get it from his system. It will take a while to get a cure from the poison."

"I found it," Rowen announced as he read the page, "It's only one page long.."

"Anything on a cure for the poison?"

"No."

Ryo growled and rubbed his face, "Shit."

"What do you think we should do? Poison is your area of expertise after all," Sage looked at Sekhmet.

"I'd like to move him first; we should be able to do that much right now."

"Where to…?" Kento asked hesitantly.

"Ideally it would be easier for me to take him to the Neather Realm and treat him there, however if he wakes up like this there it will make his condition worse. So I'll settle for the apartment you two share."

"Okay." Kento knelt down and with Ryo's help, lifted Cye up, he was instantly worried about how light his friend felt.

White Blaze walked over to them, grunting.

"No White Blaze," Ryo said, "Kento and I got this, you just watch our backs for now."

Sekhmet stood up, "Lets go then."

Sage nodded and led the way with Rowen, jumping from one building to the next. As they got closer to the apartment something caught his eye and Sage turned his head slightly and glared. _Guys we're being followed_.

_By what_? Kento asked angrily.

_That kitsune from before_, the blonde answered, _it's three buildings over_.

Rowen changed a glance and saw it. Just as his friends said it was cream colored with three tails, it just seemed to be following them since it never got any closer. _Think we should go after it_?

_Not right now_, Ryo looked ahead, _Let's get Cye to the apartment and help him first. Then we'll go after it._

Picking up the pace the group ran faster until the top of the apartment complex came into view. After landing on the roof with his friends, Kento let Ryo take Cye's weight as he returned to his street clothes. Reaching in his pocket to get his keys, the warrior of Hardrock looked around and spotted the kitsune standing on the shopping center building across from them. He glared at it.

Sekhmet followed the young Chinaman's gaze, "I'll keep an eye on it you get Cye inside."

"Right."

"Should we get anything for him?" Rowen asked.

"A wet towel for his fever and another towel that he can bleed on," The green-haired man replied his large eyes never leaving the kitsune. He heard stories about them all his life, other than minor tricksters they really weren't something man would consider an enemy. So why was one against them? It wasn't moving from its spot, in fact the only way one would know it wasn't a statue was because the tails kept moving.

_What are you after?_ He thought to himself.

While the Warlord of Venom kept his eyes on the kitsune, the Ronin carefully took their friend into the house. By now the other three had their subarmor on and while Ryo held up Cye, Kento opened the closet to get out the towels that Sekhmet had asked for. Three years ago this never would have happened, but right now he had to trust the warlord he once hated.

Sage took the smaller towel from him and went to the bathroom. Turning the water on he held it under the running water, there was no way he would take it to his friend unless it was soaked. He wasn't so pissed off to not think the water could help his friend just as much, if not more, than Sekhmet could. Cye was a water warrior after all.

Once he was sure it would be soaked enough for Cye, he turned the water off and headed out of the bathroom. Kento had laid out the towel on the sofa and Ryo put their injured friend on the sofa, turning him on his side so they could easily see the wound better.

Now Sage was no doctor, nor in all of his eighteen years of life had he wanted to be. However, thanks to his older sister, he knew enough medical things to know that this was really bad. As he moved closer he saw that the penetration part of the wound itself was small, maybe no digger than a pin-prick. Still the wound was swelling, puss was forming, the skin around it was Turing a plum color and it smelled infected.

Sekhmet walked in and quickly closed the door behind him, locking it. "That Kitsune it out in the parking lot." He announced.

White Blaze gave a growl as he limped over to the door, he sat down staring at it like he was daring the enemy to try and enter.

"White Blaze?" Ryo asked.

"He has the right idea," Rowen said as he moved to look out the window, "I see it. I'll keep an eye on it while you guys help Cye."

"Sounds good," Sage agreed.

The green-haired man knelt down and looks at the wound again, "This needs to get cleaned."

"Soap and water?"

"Yes, I'll also need a um.. oh what are they called? Those metal object that are like needles but you use them to hold things up.."

"A safety pin?"

"Yes, that's it. Do you have them here?" He looked at Kento.

"Yeah I'll get them."

"You sure the poison won't spread?" Ryo asked.

"It won't spread, it has already done a good amount of damage though."

"Enough that his life is in danger?"

"Yes." He looked at all of them, "I can tell that by the way his body has responded to the poison. Since he was fighting when this happened his heart was already racing so the blood was pumping faster. It's already in his system and it is killing him."

"Do you have a way to save him?" Kento asked.

Sekhmet could feel the air in the room get heavy, knowing it wasn't Rowen that was causing it. He said nothing; in truth he had no idea how to save his former enemy without risking the anger of the others.

The blonde swordsman understood the silence coming from the warlord; it pained him in an all too familiar way. He carefully set the wet cloth over the young potter's forehead. "We have to do something."

"First Yuli and now Cye," Rowen said allowed.

"Is that fox moving at all?" Ryo asked trying his hardest to hide the anger in his voice.

The tall blue-haired warrior shook his head, "No. It's just sitting there staring up at the door like it's waiting for something."

"Maybe it came to collect?" The warlord surmised.

This time Ryo was the one to growl. Then a thought struck him, "Sekhmet."

"Yes?"

"When you fought Cye in the Naruto Strait your poison had no effect on him because he was in water, right?"

Sage and Kento looked at their leader.

The warlord was busy cleaning the wound, "That's correct. However I hadn't poisoned him prior to that," He looked at the Wildfire Ronin, "I see where you are going with this. I'm not sure if putting Cye in the water will work or not."

"Cye's powers increase in water."

"Yes and his armor protects him fiercely when he is already in the water. For all we know the armor itself may be damaged."

"It's better than nothing right now," Sage said.

"I don't think it's smart to move him out to the ocean, that's a good forty minutes away." Rowen reminded them.

Kento looked at Cye, "I'll fill the bathtub with water."

"Don't make it too hot," Sekhmet warned, "If it's too hot that could be a problem."

"Right."

Violet eyes glanced back down at the auburn haired boy. Maybe the water would be able to help after all. He wasn't sure if anyone else had noticed but since he put the wet towel on Cye's head, a little of color had returned to the warrior.

* * *

She stayed still in the parking lot of the apartment building, her eyes never leaving the place they took the Ronin of Torrent. She had seen the Ronin of Halo with them too. Maybe after she took the armor from the dead ronin's body she would be able to kill the Date? It would be a good way to eat two birds at once. And it would be easier with that cursed white tiger injured, also she couldn't pick up the scent of the black tiger so he wasn't there to help either.

This would be easy.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

* * *

The water had helped. A lot more in fact than the Warlord of Venom thought was possible. It wasn't enough though for him to say the boy was out of danger yet. The chances of him dying had lessened greatly, that was the only good news and he had voiced it.

Beyond that nothing had changed.

This was not helping the already growing anger of the other four Ronin.

He leaned against the sink in the bathroom, trying to ignore the bickering that was coming from the next room. Not an easy thing to do with four young men who had loud voices. The warrior almost wished the enemy would attack so they could get some tension worked out. To his knowledge the kitsune still hadn't moved from its spot in the parking lot so it had to be there for the armor.

From what he was paying attention to the four were deciding if they should go after the kitsune outside or not. Another side conversation had to do with asking if their two girl friends knew anything about the creature that had done this to Cye. Rowen had shot down attacking the kitsune without leaving the injured Ronin completely protected.

Sage was the one who had pointed out that the girls were both in class, and for all they knew would have to work later. Kento had the phone number to the tea house that Rachel worked at, and Rowen had the number to Sileny's desk phone.

His dark eyes looked at the pale face of his former enemy, "If you don't wake up soon those four will do something stupid."

* * *

For once Rachel was glad Ryo had taught her how to get out of a room without being noticed. If her teacher had seen her sneak out ten minute early she'd be in serious trouble. It was lunch hour and there was a phone call she just had to make before class got out in a few more hours. Ever since she had stopped Satsuki a sinking feeling kept growing in her stomach.

She had to know if the guys were okay.

Running down the stairs she raced past the office and out into the courtyard. An image of that creature drifted back into her head. It scared her. Rachel hadn't seen anything the boys were fighting against since Marijke arrived at the cabin. Thanks to living in Kyoto most of her life she knew what a kitsune looked like and it was because of Sileny that she knew what a Minotaur looked like. But this thing…

When she reached the phone and pulled out her card, swiping it she quickly dialed the house first.

Ring. Ring.

Ring. Ring.

"_Ding, you've reached Sileny Svensson and Rachel Hoth, we're not home so please us a message_." She heard her voice with her Roommate say.

"Sileny it's Rachel, look when you get home can you please call the guys? I don't know who to tell you to call first but please call them. Satsuki and I saw Cye and Kento chase a weird looking creature out of the school grounds today and I have a really bad feeling about it. I'm asking you to do it because you've got more time than I do. Thanks." She hung up and took a deep breath.

The feeling in her stomach kept getting worse and she was starting to think she might be sick. Part of her wanted to leave school and find the guys, however she knew that was a stupid idea. Especially after she told Satsuki they couldn't or rather they shouldn't do that.

She stood in the phone booth for a few more minutes trying to calm down before returning to the school.

* * *

Sileny unlocked the front door and walked into the house, "Rachel are you home?" She called out into the stillness. When there was no answer the girl gave a shrug and closed the door after the tiger came in behind her. "Maybe she went to the dojo," she said to herself.

The large black tiger sniffed the air, relieved to only smell the girls and the three cats. It was still safe here. Leaving the girl alone he walked from the living room into the kitchen for a bite to eat.

The girl walked over to the table by the entrance way, "Looks like we have a few messages," she mused before pressing the button.

Beep, "_Rachel it's Freemont, can you give me a call tomorrow? Thanks_." Beep.

Sileny wrote down the message for her roommate on the pad of paper when the next message stopped her.

Beep, "_Hey girls it's Ryo. Um look can Sileny give us a call at Cye's place? Something's happened and well… do you have any more information on a Manticore or how to cure it's poison_?"

She froze.

Black Blaze walked into the room, the fur on his neck standing up. That did not sound good.

Beep, "_Sileny it's Rachel, look when you get home can you please call the guys? I don't know who to tell you to call first but please call them. Satsuki and I saw Cye and Kento chase a weird looking creature out of the school grounds today and I have a really bad feeling about it. I'm asking you to do it because you've got more time than I do. Thanks_."

"Shit!" Sileny cursed loudly, she thumbed through the contacts list and found the phone number. Finding the number to Cye and Kento's apartment she quickly punched in the number and waited.

"_Hello_?"

"Kento."

"_Sileny_!"

She heard the others in the background, "What happened exactly? I mean Ryo left a message but I've also gotten a call from Rachel. She and Satsuki saw you and Cye chase something out of the school courtyard."

"_It was a Manticore, or so it said it was_-"

"You talked to it?"

"_Yeah but look, Sileny do you have any more info on the Manticore? The book you gave Rowen only had one page_."

"Um… maybe I can go look that may take me a few minutes though. Why do you need it so badly?"

"_…_"

She sighed hearing the frustration and anger in the silence, "Okay if _you_ won't tell me then put Rowen on the phone." She heard some commotion on the other line.

Instead of Rowen's voice it was Sage's that came over the phone, "_Sileny Cye's been poisoned by the Manticore_."

"Say what…?" She asked slowly.

"_We've called Sekhmet over and he's stopped the spread of the poison_," He explained, "_We've even put Cye in the bath tub to see if water would help him. So far it's at least keeping him alive_."

"Okay um hang on a minute," She switched to the cordless phone, "Can you still hear me?"

"_Yes_."

She hung up the other phone before running up the stairs, "So Sekhmet stopped the spread but Cye's still under the poison?"

"_Yes_."

"_Since we put him in the water he's gained some color back and his fever went down_," She heard Ryo say in the background.

"Well that much is good," walking into her room she looked at her books, "Did you guys kill the Manticore?"

"_Ryo sent it over side of the building burning the whole way_."

"That should do it," she tossed the books that were useless on her bed, "This thing was part scorpion right?"

"_The tail was a scorpion, the body was like a lion and the head was like a human_."

"Can't the wound be treated like a scorpion sting?" Another book tossed on the bed.

"_We tried and it didn't help_."

She cursed loudly again before finding the book she wanted, "This Manticore attacked Cye and Kento at the school, it stings Cye, then Ryo burns it to cinders?"

"_Right, the book you gave Rowen only talks about what the Manticore looks like and that it's from ancient myths_."

"Okay well I only have one other book with this creature in it. Manticores come from Mesopotamia, basically, and they are man-eaters. They're considered cousins of a Sphinx, an Egyptian lion-man-bird, who told riddles before it killed. But if you got the riddle right you would live."

"_It didn't ask any riddles_."

"Well Marijke can go in the sunlight."

"_Anything for curing the poison_?"

"No," She answered looking at the illustration of the Manticore, "My guess is no one lived long enough to get a cure."

Sage cursed loudly.

_Haven't heard that from __**you**__ before_, she thought, "Do you want me to see if Rachel can go over there an-"

"_No_!"

Sileny held the phone away from her ear, three of four voices had said that rather loudly. "Ouch, okay I won't."

"_Look I wouldn't mind Rachel, or even you here_-"

"But?"

"_But that kitsune is out in the parking lot and they have Yuli, jewel or not we don't want you two getting hurt. Especially after all you've done for us_."

"Okay I'll stay away and be sure Rachel, and your sister do."

"_Satsuki? What does she have to do with this_?"

"She and Rachel saw the Manticore. From what little I know about her she'll want to find you as quick as she can."

"_Please keep here away too then, she can see ghosts I don't want her taken too_."

"Right," she looked over and saw Black Blaze pacing in the hallway. "I'll see if I can find something else. You guys be careful, everything you've met so far, save for that kitsune, eat humans."

"_Thanks Sileny_."

"When Cye wakes up call me. He's my friend too." She hung up the phone and sighed. "Black Blaze."

He stopped and looked at her annoyed.

"Cye was poisoned by a Manticore."

Black Blaze growled.

* * *

Midnight Blue eyes still gazed out the window at the cream colored Kitsune. Eight hours had passed since Cye had been poisoned and things hadn't gotten much better. Tensions in the house were running high between the four of them, he was just waiting to see whose burst first, himself included.

Sekhmet had managed to stay out of the conflict by keeping an eye on Cye with White Blaze. Giving them updates as he saw it necessary then returning to the bathroom.

"Is it still out there?" Ryo asked.

Rowen nodded.

"If it's still out there in three hours I say we go out there and get some answers!"

"Kento." Sage warned, "We've been through this countless times today. We can't leave Cye with only a wounded tiger and Sekhmet to protect him. And it could also be a trap."

The warrior of Hardrock tightened his grip on the arm of the sofa.

"No one likes just sitting here Kento," the archer glanced back at him, "Believe me I'd like to go down there and interrogate that damn thing but it's not the smartest move right now."

"So what? We just stand here and wait to hear from the girls or Cye to die?"

"He's not going to die." Ryo looked at his friend.

Kento glared daggers at the leader.

Sage stood up seeing where this was this was going, "Don't start you two that won't help either."

The archer when to speak when a sharp yelping sound outside got his attention. Snapping his head around he looked out, "Black Blaze."

The other three moved to the window and looked out. "What is he doing here?" Ryo glared, "He's supposed to be with Sileny."

Rowen cursed loudly, "I'll bet you she sent him here." He looked out to watch the large tiger fighting the small fox.

White Blaze limped out of the bathroom and went to the front door; he gave a small growl and clawed at the door. _Black Blaze you stupid demon! Do not kill her just yet!_

"You are not going out there!"

"He's going to kill it." Sage said watching the fight.

"Good!"

"I have an idea," Sekhmet looked at them, "Maybe that kitsune knows a way or help Torrent or get the boy back."

* * *

Outside Black Blaze stood on his back legs over the cowering kitsune, baring his fangs he pounced down on her. Yelping she clawed at his face and bit his arm, her three tails thrashing on the ground. The large tiger snarled then bit down on her shoulder, ignoring the blood that ran down his face.

"Black Blaze!"

"Don't kill it!"

The black tiger lifted his head up, still holding the kitsune in his mouth. Now that he caught her he was not about to just let her go.

White Blaze leapt down from the hallway, grunting as he landed. _Black Blaze we need her alive_. He walked towards them, _She could give us information_.

Ekin bared her teeth and gave a screeching sound.

Black Blaze dropped her and put his paws on her side, claws extended, _We'd be better off to kill her_!

White Blaze growled and crouched like he would pounce.

"Black Blaze!"

The tiger glanced up to see the archer in full armor, arrowed aimed at the kitsune. He also saw that Wildfire was on the stairs, one sword drawn.

The kitsune gave a hissing sound as she struggled under the tigers grasp.

"Do you think it can talk?" Ryo asked his eyes focused on the kitsune.

Sekhmet walked out of the doorway in full armor, "If not I'll take its pelt home with me for decoration," He drew out a sword.

The kitsune showed off her sharp teeth at the oldest of them.

"I think it can understand us," Rowen remarked, "So if you can understand us then start talking fox! We got some questions for you."

It growled in response.

Black Blaze roared at the Kitsune so loudly his sides shook, ears pinned back, and he continued to snarl while growling low. Everyone, including White Blaze, stepped back and the kitsune went stiff as a board.

_I keep forgetting how deadly that animal really is_, Sekhmet thought to himself, "Let's put this a different way. Either you start talking or we'll let Black Blaze kill you. Given his attitude towards you I'm sure he'd enjoy it."

The Kitsune gave a nod.

Ryo tightened the grip on his sword, "Black Blaze let it up just a bit."

The black tiger did as he was asked, slowly getting off the kitsune; leaving his paws on the tails.

Slowly the kitsune sat up and before the boys knew it they were no longer looking at a fox but at a young woman in a long black furisode her cream hair messed up, and fox ears pinned back. Brown-gold eyes glaring, "Speak then," She said.

"Why are you here?" Ryo asked as he took another step down the stairs.

She kept her eyes on the black-haired boy, "To collect the Torrent armor from the body of Mouri once he's finally succumb to the poison."  
"He is _not_ going to die."

"You don't have the cure, Sanada."

Midnight eyes stared down at the creature, "Is there a cure?"

"Of course there is. My lord would not have such a deadly creature as Necalli around without one," She looked from Ryo to Rowen, then to Sekhmet, "I believe this is the part where you ask me about it or for it."

"Indeed it is," He looked down at her, "It's also the part where I ask you how we can get it."

"If the armors are handed over I will gladly give you the cure."

"You will give it to us without us giving you our armors," Sage said as he walked out of the apartment, "One way or the other because our friend is not going to die."

Her ears pinned back farther against her head and she snarled, "How admirable… and incredibly foolish. I suspect he'll be dead by this time tomorrow, strong as he is."

"You are going to get us that cure."

"Which do you want more the cure or the boy with the jewel?"

Growling was heard coming from both tigers.

Sekhmet calmly put his hands on the railing, "What do these boys have to do to get both from you? And keep their armors?"

The kitsune said nothing.

"You are not really fighting fair," the archer told her.

"Fighting fair?" She repeated, "Pray tell child whatever gave you the impression this was going to be a fair fight? Had my lord wanted that you'd all be fighting one on one with an opponent and be granted a merciful death after your humiliating defeat."

"Your lord would rather us out number his servants in a fight?"

She smirked, "Three against two may seem unfair but you three didn't really start winning until Sanada here arrived and cut off Taman's horns. Even after that he still had that axe and there was Marijke. Had I not arrived who knows what would have really happened?"

Violet eyes narrowed.

"Then two of you couldn't defeat Necalli instead one nearly de-"

"Say they beat you in a fair fight, would you give them the cure and the boy?" Sekhmet interrupted.

She looked up at him, "Why would I agree to that?"

"If you don't I'm sure Black Blaze would enjoy ripping your throat out."

The tiger in question gave a low rumble.

Twitching an ear she thought for a moment, "A fair fight means by your means would suggest I only fight one of you in one on one combat."

"Right," Ryo was now standing beside White Blaze, "When we win you'll give us the cure and you'll give us Yuli back unharmed."

"And when I win I take the armor of Torrent and the armor of my opponent back with me. I believe you'd call that a fair trade right? Two lives for two lives."

_I don't like this_, Sage looked at his leader.

_Me either, anyone know a better way_?

_Kento says no_, Sage informed the others, _and I can't think of anything_.

_We don't have much choice so let's be smart about who she'll fight_.

_You and Ryo are the only ones who aren't recovering from an injury_, the blonde glanced at the kitsune.

_I'll gladly kick her ass_, Rowen looked at Ryo.

He nodded, "We don't have much of a choice it appears. But how do we know that you'll keep up your end of the deal?"

"I shall bring a witness," she stated, "You are free to bring one as well. To keep it simple these witnesses can't be someone who will jump in when things get nasty. Someone who can't fight."

_She means the girls_, the Ronin of Wildfire thought to himself.

"We'll fight outside of the city," Rowen said. "No one gets hurt or interferes."

Ekin nodded.

_She's being far too compliant_, Black Blaze looked across the way to the other tiger, _this fox is plotting something, one of us should be the witness._

_That might be hard but we can always attempt that_.

"Right we'll fight-"

"I will be fighting him," The kitsune pointed up at one of the men on the balcony.

Sage glared.

* * *

**A/N:** There it is! Yay! Please R&R I'd like feedback, I feel like a broken record asking for it yet it makes me a better writer/storyteller if you do. Ch. 11 will be up before June.


	11. Chapter 11

**Power**

Chapter 11

The air was sticky and hot that morning as he stood in the forests at the bottom of Mt. Fuji waiting for that kitsune to arrive. He would have fought her last night had it been a choice instead here he was waiting… and waiting... and still waiting.

The kitsune had said to meet at dawn which was a good half hour away, yet he was anxious after waiting an hour. This was so unlike him to be this antsy before a fight, injured or not. Standing up from the log he had been sitting on the Ronin of Light began pacing.

"Sage."

"I'm fine to fight, Rachel." He told her trying not to sound as stressed as he was.

_I really doubt that_, she thought, "I wasn't going to ask that."

His violet eye glanced at her, "It'll be fine."

"Do you know how to defeat a kitsune?" She watched him pause before giving a slight nod.

"Once I have the cure from her, get in the car and take it to Cye."

Rachel glanced down the path way at the black civic that Sileny let them take then back to him, "And just leave you here? Sage you're going to be fighting a kitsune. I may not know much about them but given everything else Haytie has thrown at you guys-"

"I'm already aware that I'm going to get seriously hurt. Cye needs that cure and we need to save Yuli, if worse comes to worse and I end up in the hospital over that then I'm fine with it."

"Will everyone else be fine with that?"

"…"

She frowned and pulled her legs up to her chest. This whole thing didn't sit well with her; she quietly wished Sage had asked Sileny to be here instead of her. Watching her friends spar was one thing. Watching them fighting something like this…

"I won't let you get hurt Rachel." Her older friend told her.

Her eyes widened and she looked up at him, "I didn't think you would. You're abilities aren't something I doubt Sage, I've seen you spar and I know you guys don't go all out on each other."

The blonde warrior gave a nod.

"I just worry that she'll go back on her word and fight dirty against you."

He stopped pacing and took a few deep breaths to calm himself before looking to the east, "I can see a little light."

Sky blue eyes followed his gaze. _Will things always be this way_?

* * *

Marijke took her eyes from the mirror and looked at the kitsune, "He brought one of those girls as a witness. I didn't think he'd actually have one."

"I did," Ekin tied the obi off with her tails, "The Date's have a strong belief in honor and fair fighting."

"Something you don't share, eh Ekin?"

She smiled slyly, "No I don't-but for a time I'll play that game."

The vampire reached over and took a large purple vile off a table, "Willing to go so far for this one you have the real cure?"

She began brushing back her long cream hair, "Why not? It'll be that much sweeter after I kill him to have that girl tell them I also threw the potion on the ground. They'll be no way to save the other so both armors will be ours and once that boy is dead our lord will have the jewel as well." Turning around the kitsune looked at her comrade, "I want to enjoy this."

"What it is about the Date family that vexes you so much?"

Golden eyes looked at the vampire from the mirror, "A secret I shall take to the grave if you don't mind. It's personal and I do not enjoy talking about it."

"Who will you take with you?"

"I was hoping I might borrow your gargoyle."

* * *

The sun was shining through the trees now, the light felt good against his face. Violet eyes looked over to Rachel again, he knew she was scared. He was too.

He didn't trust the kitsune to play fair but by the gods he sure would, he'd make her play fair if he had to. Not just for his honor either, Cye's life held in the balance here more than anything. Yuli was their prisoner. Rachel's life could be in danger too… a thought he considered heavily long before asking her. He trusted her to let him fight more than he did his own little sister or even Sileny, and he didn't know the latter all that well. Though if something did go wrong and she was hurt he didn't know who'd be angrier. Himself or Ryo.

A shadow moved to block out the light.

When he looked up Sage found himself staring at the gargoyle the vampire had flown on days ago. This time it was the kitsune who rode the beast. Behind him the girl made a nervous moan, he moved back closer to her without taking his eyes off his enemy. He wanted to make this as quickly as he good so Rachel could get the cure and get it back to Cye.

The gargoyle hadn't landed when the kitsune slipped off its back and landed gracefully in front of Sage and Rachel. She gave a sly smile, "I see you've brought a little red mouse to watch you lose."

He wanted to strike her for that, "Have you brought the cure like you promised kitsune?"

"Of course I did," She pulled a large purple glass vile, "The cure is inside here," Ekin turned from him and walked over to a tree. Setting it carefully on a thick branch she said, "Shall we get started then?"

"Where's Yuli?" Rachel asked.

"He's still in the dungeon, if you beat me I'll return him."

Sage glared and felt more anger than before.

She moved gracefully to the middle of the clearing, pulling a sword from her obi belt, "Lets start; I have many things to do later."

The Armor of Halo had manifested itself around him and he gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, "Rachel move back," He told her without looking back at her.

She did as he told her until she was using one of the trees as a shield. Her sky blue eyes glanced across the way to the vile.

Without a word the kitsune lifted her sword and ran at him.

The blonde warrior unsheathed his sword; clashing blades with the other the sound echoed throughout the area making the birds in the trees fly high into the air, chirping protests at the unwelcomed out of sword fighting.

The enemy pulled her sword back and brought it down once again, missing but she kicked out with her leg, and managed to push her enemy back a foot.

He regained his footing and swung the blade up at her, watching her jump back he followed her keeping the blade ready to block or strike.

The kitsune's feet landed on a rock she then used to push herself off of. Flipping over him she smacked the back of his injured shoulder with her foot before landing behind him.

Sage gritted it teeth as he swung the sword around, watching as it began to glow. The enemy moved away but not fast enough, he managed to cut her arm. He heard her growling and saw her ears pin back against her head. The Halo warrior held tightly to his glowing sword.

Something about the way this kitsune growled scared the young girl. She gripped tightly onto the tree bark, moving the lower half of her body more behind the tree. An empty sinking feeling began to form in her stomach. Sage moved his sword around to the other side, the blade pointing to the air and sparks began to fly. Rachel recognized this move and immediately hid all the way behind the tree before couching down.

The Ronin of Halo counted to five before moving the sword, the lightning flickered off the sword then launched off as he swung the sword down. The attack was weak because he knew she would dodge it, which she did, the trees behind her splintered and one even fell over. But it didn't prepare her for a second stronger strike. Balled lightning spun at her, and while she moved again the attack struck her tail.

Ekin gave a screeching sound. Blood began to soak what fur she had left.

_She's angry_, a small voice in his head warned him.

He didn't even have time to blink before she transformed into her fox form; pouncing on him and knocking him down. Large fangs began biting for his neck. Sage flipped over so fast he was able to throw her off before he stood on his feet.

The kitsune now stood with her claws digging into a tree trunk, she bearded her teeth at him; making a high pitch yowling sound.

Violet eyes glared from under his helmet. She hadn't managed to bite him, thankfully, yet it didn't seem like to would take much to piss her off. There was a pulsating sensation that seemed to be coming from his sword. Chancing a glance he saw his sword was slowly starting to give off more light.

She jumped off the tree, darting past him, taking to human form midway before she picked her sword up. Clashing blades with him again, the kitsune started fighting more aggressively. Her eyes had also darted to his blade-it would have to go. Ekin clashed with him again, then used her free hand to upper cut her enemy in the face. Wrapping her tails around his waist she spun him around like a top then slammed him chest first into a tree.

Sage groaned in pain. He moved back only to be slammed forward again, pinned there by a clawed hand behind his neck and something restraining his arms behind his back. The kitsune's claws dug into his skin and he felt a trickle of blood run down the side of his neck. Then his helmet was off.

She tossed the helmet aside and scoffed, "Maybe if you hadn't been in such a state this fight would have been more than this." Smirking she plunged her sword into the tree right beside Sage's face, taking off a few strands of his air. Her fur stood on end as she reached down to pry his sword out from his hand.

Rachel had no idea what made her do this and at the moment she didn't care. Grabbing the rock by her foot and threw it with all her might at the kitsune's head. "Stoppen!" She didn't miss.

The Ronin of Halo didn't see it happen.

Ekin growled at the small pain of impacted, "The little mouse speaks," she said and turned to look at the mortal girl behind her.

The gravity of what she just did finally hit her. _Oh shit_.

That was all the distraction Sage needed to push back and fall right onto the enemy.

Ekin let out a scream of pain as the Ronin pinned her against the ground, his sword deep in her thigh, the blood staining her kimono. She glared at him.

His violet eyes looked back as though they were piercing through her soul, "You lose." He stated through gritted teeth. The pain pulsed through his body and was barely shadowed by his anger. Pulling the sword out from her leg, stood up and backed away slowly before turning to look at the gargoyle.

The creature appeared to be looking at him before folding its wings in front of itself for a moment before unfolding them to reveal the young boy in its stone claws.

"Yuli!"

Rachel ran over and took the boy from the gargoyle, "He's breathing," she said before looking over at the blonde warrior, her eyes quickly widened, "Look out!"

Sage turned on a dime, his sword ready again to strike the kitsune. But someone else got her first.

When or how he got there he didn't know, but for the very first time in his life Sage was truly glad to see the Warlord of Darkness.

He had pinned her against what was left of the tree that once served as Rachel's shield. His clawed hand was buried into the right shoulder and his sword pointed at her throat. "Take the loss with some dignity, bitch." He turned to the gargoyle, "If you can talk then tell your master we are taking this creature as our prisoner."

Sage blinked, "What?"

Cale gave his former rival a look that told him he'd explain later.

"Sage," Rachel called to him, "We have to get Yuli to a hospital and get this cure to Cye."

You better get Halo to the hospital too, Rachel. He'll need medical attention now."

"I'll be fine."

Rachel stepped in front of her friend and looked him in the face, "Please."

Reluctantly he nodded, "First," he walked over to the only tree that hadn't been damaged and took the vile from there, "We get this to Cye."

The gargoyle made no sounds as it spread is large stone wings and flew up into the air.

* * *

Rachel burst through the unlocked apartment door, ignoring the shocked looks as she dashed through the living room, disappearing down the hall. "Sekhmet," She looked at the Warlord of Venom who stood beside the bathtub that held her friend. Taking a few deep breaths she pulled out the vile from her pocket, "Sage got it for him."

The Warlord of Venom took the vile hastily from the girl, opened and smelled it. "Smells like the poison so it's the right one."

She gave a long sigh and sank to the ground taking several deep breaths.

Sekhmet knelt over the bathtub and lifted up the Ronin of Torrent, "Can you come help me girl?"

Rachel swallowed as she stood up, "Yeah."

He watched her limp over, "Open his mouth please."

She leaned over the soaked body of her older friend, eyes lingering over his pasty white skin and carefully opened his mouth. The young girl could feel his breath on her hand, "He's still with us."

"A test to my skill," Sekhmet commented as he pored the cure down the throat of Torrent.

* * *

**A/N**: Ever write one of those chapters that you know is short but it feels so long? Yeah... also I tried writing the battle here a little differently from what I've done before, thoughts? As always please R&R, I like feed back and it helps me get better.


	12. Chapter 12

**Power**

Chapter 12

* * *

Dais waited outside the large double doors of the prison, Cale had been down there for three hours. Normally the Warlord of Illusion would have offered his help, but this one didn't seem like it would be too hard of an egg to crack. He was content to wait until his friend returned.

Every now and then the guards or soldiers would walk past on their patrols of the city. They would look in his direction then hurry along.

_I must be showing my annoyance_, Dais said to himself.

Behind him the doors finally opened and Cale stopped to look at the white haired man, "Have you been there the whole time?"

He nodded once, "Did you learn anything useful?"

"Nothing we didn't already figure out," the door closed and locked behind him. He motioned for Dais to follow and the two began to walks back to the castle, "This Lord Haytie is after the new armors the Ronin are wearing. I couldn't get a specific reason for why he would want them. However I was able to find out the enemy now has the Jewel of Life."

"We'll need to get that back. I say we persuade them to let Kayura have it now, she is ready."

Cale nodded, "I agree. And that is the only part of this conversation I'll be sharing with the Ronin."

"…What else did you learn?"

"I said she didn't give a specific answer to why her master wants the armors. It's her cryptic reason that really has me baffled. According to her, the Lord Haytie wants the armors but has no interest in using."

"That makes no sense," Dais looked up, "They are very powerful, I dare say thrice as powerful as when we first met them. To steal those armors away from them then not use them seems like a real waste of power. Particularly when taking that armor will kill those boys."

They turned a corner and arrived at the open main gate, as they walked through Cale saw a light on the balcony where Sekhmet's rooms where. "Sekhmet returned, let's get his update on Torrents life and then fill him in."

Dais motioned, "After you."

* * *

Sekhmet inhaled the smell of his tea deeply. He was glad to be of some help to his allies but he was gladder to have left. The air in that small apartment had gotten to tense he was waiting to see who was going to break into a fight first. One almost broke out between Strata and Hardrock; he had left when the orange haired girl shouted something loudly over them.

Tap. Tap.

"You can come in," The door slid open long enough for Dais and Cale to walk in. Large eyes looked at them, "Anything from the prisoner?"

Cale answered, "They have the Jewel of Life. She also claims her master wants the armors but won't use them, which I think is a contradiction."

"Indeed."

Dais looked at the green haired man, "How are things developing out there?"

"Torrent is on his way to a full recovery, however he is still unconscious. It may still take a few days for him to wake up. I heard them mention that the boy, Yuli, will be fine. As for Halo his injuries are rather sever. His shoulder needed stitches and his torso is badly bruised, he's really in no more condition to fight that Torrent is."

Cale thought for a moment, "Given how time works between our worlds, it's been almost a week there right?"

Sekhmet nodded.

"And no attacks?"

"I think your capture of the Kitsune caught the enemy by surprise," Sekhmet suggested.

"They could be buying time," The one eyed man suggested.

Taking a gulp from his tea Sekhmet said, "I almost wish they would attack. The Ronin are all in foul moods, the air about them is so thick I think it could break my swords. The only peace I got is when they would leave the apartment and try to find their enemy. When they were there I was just waiting for a fight to start between them. I actually thought there would be one today between Strata and Hardrock, but when they really started yelling their girl friend with the orange hair shouted something over the both of them and everything was quiet when I left."

"Sileny," Cale nodded, "The little I know of her she doesn't strike me as one to put up with them in that mood."

A thought struck Dais, "Perhaps you and I should offer to spar with them?" He looked at Cale, "They could blow off steam and you can tell them whatever you want about your findings."

"I'd rather not spar with them if that's the mood they're in. I want to keep myself in one piece."

"You should wait a while before going there," Sekhmet suggested, "We don't need to be fighting them anymore; especially when they are looking for a fight."

* * *

_I really hope Sileny hasn't killed anyone by the time I get back there_, Rachel thought to herself as she walked into the backroom of the tea house. She looked at the tubs of tea blends, "Hm… where is it?"

"What are you looking for Rachel?"

The girl jumped a bit and turned around to see one of her coworkers there, "Kei you scared me!"

"That doesn't take much," He smiled at her, "Which blend are you looking for?"

"There's a couple out there from England and they wanted to know if we had any English teas. The lady says she loves green tea but they've been here three weeks and she's green teaed out. I saw we had some Earl Gray back here but I don't remember where."

"Oh here I'll get it for you," he pushed the ladder around to the far corner of the room. Walking up he took out the tin on the top most shelf then slid down, "This is it."

She smiled, "Thanks Kei."

"No problem," He grinned wider then his smile faded, "Hey Rachel I hope you don't think I'm trying to pry but are you doing okay? You look really out of it."

"I am a little out of it," she freely admitted, "Two of my good friends have been really hurt so I'm helping take care of them between here and school." She saw the look on his face and quickly added, "I don't mind it all that much though."

"You should try and get some sleep though, maybe take the Nighty Night tea blend home so you can sleep."

"…I just might do that." Rachel nodded one and then walked out of the room.

* * *

Sage sat on the sofa in the living room of his friend's apartment, watching the news while trying to keep his mind off his injuries. The apartment had finally quieted down after his three friends left to see if they could find any trace of the enemy. He thought that was a pointless waste of time since the enemy had already shown a habit of finding them. But at least it gave them something to do.

Every so often he would glance over to Cye's room. He never did see his friend stir though he could see him breathing. Sileny was in there watching him with White Blaze by her feet. She'd been in there watching over their friend since that morning after she stopped Rowen and Kento from almost breaking into a fight. He gave her points for that.

He turned his attention back to the news.

The weather man gave a polite bow, "There is a cold front moving across the country from the far north which could very well mean an early winter is in our future. I suggest you all get out your jackets and scarves for those early morning commutes. We will still have a few days of warm weather across the Kanto Prefecture and won't cool down until this weekend when this rain storm comes into the area."

White Blaze walked across the room and stood by the door. Sage watched the white tiger then his eyes darted to the door s it opened.

Black Blaze entered first and was then followed by Rachel. She smiled at the tiger, "Hey White Blaze." The set down her book bag and began to pet the tiger. The larger black tiger walked across the room and entered Cye's bedroom.

"How was school and work?" Sage asked trying to find things to keep his mind busy.

Sky blue eyes looked at him, "Dodging your sister at school is impossible." She stated, "She asked me to have her call you, said it was something important about your older sister."

"Did she say what?"

"No."

"I'll call tomorrow."

She took off her shoes and sat in the chair beside her friend, "How long have the guys been out?"

"Most of the afternoon," He turned the volume of the television down, "They'll be back in an hour or so. No one found any clues or anything leading to the enemy."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me, I just hope they come back and have blown off some steam."

The blonde nodded in agreement.

Sileny walked out of Cye's room, "If not I'll scream again."

Rachel blinked, "Again?"

"Rowen and Kento just about got into a real fight today," Sage explained, "Sileny stopped them and I swear," he looked at the older of the girls, "I haven't met anyone who shouts like that."

She shrugged one shoulder, "Like I yelled at them, I don't have time for their bull shit and that's not good energy to bring around Cye or you when you're both still recovering. If they would just calm down or get some rest they wouldn't be so grouchy."

"Maybe we can make them sleep?" Rachel suggested, "I agree it would help," she looked at Sage, "I don't get how you've been able to sleep."

"Practice." He leaned back, "I don't know how to make them sleep without drugging them, which I won't do."

"I will."

He glared up at Sileny.

"I have a better way that won't use drugs," she motioned to her bag, "I brought some tea with me from work that should calm them down enough to sleep."

"Good luck with that," Sileny rubbed the back of her neck, "I'm off to work then I'm going home tonight for some real sleep."

"What time are you off?" Rachel asked.

"Eleven," Sileny walked to the door and slipped her sandals on, "Black Blaze are you coming?"

The tiger emerged from the bedroom.

"You want me to send Rowen to get you?" Rachel asked.

"No thanks, I'll walk home." Sileny waved to them before walking out the door with Black Blaze.

"Rachel."

She turned to look at Sage, "What?"

"Has Sileny always been tha-"

"Yes," She interrupted smiling, "It's part of her charms. Are you hungry?"

"I'll eat when the guys get back; you go ahead and get yourself something," he offered her a tired smile.

She returned it, "I'll check on Cye first." She stood up and walked into the bedroom.

_Sage_.

He flinched a bit, still not used to this, _Yes Ryo?_

_I'm on my way back, is anyone else there?_

He watched Rachel, _Rachel is here and Sileny left for work. No one else is back yet. Where you able to find anything_?

_Nothing_.

_I see. Cye's still out but his fever has been gone for a while now, so hopefully he'll be up soon_.

_Yeah… I'll see you guys in a few minutes_.

Sage leaned forward, "Rachel."

"What?"

"Ryo is on his way back."

She paused what she was doing and looked at him, "Does he sound any better?"

"A little but I can still pick up the stress in his voice," Sage admitted, "When you brew the tea try making it as hot as you can without killing it. Ryo like hot drinks not warm."

Rachel gave a nod, "Thanks. When I make it do you want any?"

He thought for a moment, "I would actually maybe I can get a decent night sleep."

"You've been sleeping… or is that just acting?"

"No I've been sleeping it's just…" He ran a hand through his hair, "Do you ever sleep and wake up feeling like you got no sleep at all?"

"You're stressed out that's why," she put the hot water for her ramen in the microwave, "Um.. have any of the past battles been this way?" She asked shifting her weight.

"Each one was stressful," he admitted, "The only times it affected my sleep was after we defeated Talpa the first time and… after we got back from America."

_I bet you got no sleep for weeks after that happened_, she thought. It was nice to be able to talk with Sage like this. After the fight against that Kitsune they had been able to grow more as friends. "Maybe someday you guys can go to America and have a good experience?"

He shrugged, "Maybe." Turning his attention back to the television he asked, "Have you been to America?"

"Once when I was eleven," she smiled and poured the water into her ramen cup, "My parents took my brothers and I to California for the summer break. Dad rented a car and we drove up the coast, went to Disneyland and SeaWorld. It was a lot of fun."

"What about Sileny?"

Rachel walked over and sat back in the chair, the ramen in her hand, "She's been to America a lot to see her parents. They end up in New York, Washington D.C., or Los Angeles when items they've found end up in a museum there. Her mom sends her the tickets and Sileny goes there for a week or two to spend time with them. She was in Washington last fall for that reason."

The door opened and Ryo walked inside with Kento behind him.

"Welcome back," Rachel looked at them.

"Did you have any luck, Kento?" Sage asked.

"None at all," The Chinese man sighed, "Hey Rachel, how was your day?" He asked while walking to Cye's room.

"It was okay," she watched him and frowned.

Ryo sat down beside Sage, "I looked all over Chiyoda and Chou. Nothing happened and I couldn't sense the enemy either."

"Maybe when Cale captured that kitsune it threw the enemy a surprise?" Rachel suggested.

"I've been thinking the same thing," the blonde agreed, "A day or two is one thing but it's been almost a week now. If they were going to attack this would be a good moment."

"But if that's true then they might fight back harder now," the girl looked between them.

Kento walked out of his friends bedroom, "They haven't seen someone fight back hard. Just wait until they show their faces. Our armor can protect us from anything they got."

Ryo opened his mouth to say something when Rachel beat him to it.

"Kento did you forget what happened with the Minotaur? His horns went _through_ your armors," she looked from him to Sage then back again, "Your armor might have repaired itself but your injury is still there."

"These guys know how to fight, we'll have to be extra careful," Sage added.

"I know that it's just…" He glared at the floor trying to find the right words.

"I know the feeling," the black-haired warrior looked at his friend. The Manticore might be dead and the kitsune captured, but he still wanted to rip someone apart.

Rachel looked at Ryo for a moment.

Sage looked over at the clock on the wall, _Rowen it's almost eight where are you?_

_I'm in Shinjuku. I'll be back in an hour or so._

_ Don't stay out too late, Rachel's here now._

_ I'll let you know when I'm coming back._ There was a pause, _How's Cye doing_?

_He hasn't gotten any better or worse_. Sage replied, "Rowen is in Shinjuku he says he'll be back in an hour or so."

Kento nodded and went back into Cye's room, "I'll take first watch."

Ryo watched Rachel, "What are you doing?"

She pulled a box out of her book bag, "I thought I'd make us some tea?"

Sage nodded at her with a knowing look on his face and unless he was asked he wasn't going to say what kind of tea that was.

_How are you feeling?_ It was still Rowen.

_I'm alright. Kento's taking the first watch over Cye, Rachel is going to make us some tea and I think we'll get some take out to go with it. Be back soon or there won't be any left._

_I already ate; I'll let you know when I'm heading back_.

"What kind of tea is it Rachel?" Kento asked from the other room.

"It helps you relax which I think you all could use help doing," She replied, "I understand why you are all stressed out, I do, but that's not good for your health." Walking into the kitchen she took out a tea kettle, "Have any of you three eaten today?"

"You sound like Mia," Ryo said with a tired smile.

"Someone has to take care of you guys."

* * *

This part of the castle always made her uneasy. The darkness here was almost too dark for her vampire eyes to see, there was no way a mortal would find their way around this area. Marijke arrived at two large metal double doors; she gave a soft knock before opening them.  
"Devu?" She looked around inside.

A creatures head rose out of the darkness, she could see the outline of a beak and knew the eyes where shut. It made a strange sound.

"Lord Haytie has a task for you, are you ready to go on a hunt?"

The creature opened its beak like mouth to reveal the sharp teeth and gave a shrieking sound.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Sorry I've made you guys wait so long. It seems like every time I try to write Rowen in a fight he gives me writers block. So as a reward for your patience you get two chapters this round. :) And a quick thank you to my reviewers, I enjoy your feed back and it helps me write better. Please keep helping me.

**Chapter 13**

* * *

"Have you cooled your jets?" The Swedish girl asked the taller boy.

Midnight eyes glared, "I'm about forty percent cooled," he answered truthfully.

"It's a start," she shrugged one shoulder, "But what are you doing here? Didn't Rachel or Sage tell you I walking home?"

Rowen gave her a puzzled look, "I haven't gone back to the apartment today, so I came to get you out of habit."

Sileny titled her head, feeling Black Blaze move behind her she added, "I shouldn't be surprised about that but I am."

"I did tell Sage I was coming to get you but I didn't hear back, I think he might be asleep."

_I bet Rachel gave him some of that tea_, she thought. "You guys need the rest," she told him walking closer, "You look like you'll age five years before this is over."

"It feels like ten," He replied handing her the spare helmet, "It's the same way each time. We hardly sleep or eat until it's over but it hasn't been like this before."

"You're all stressed out and it's more than understandable," she looked at him, "But rest once in a while. You guys can't fight properly otherwise."  
Rowen shook his head, "Thank you Sensei-Sileny."

"Well you have to hear it from someone," she replied putting on the helmet.

Black Blaze snorted as he watched the two get on the bike.

* * *

Finally the apartment was still and the only sounds were the ones coming from the news on the TV. She smiled at her sleeping friends in the living room, she didn't think the tea would really work that fast.

_Maybe their bodies gave up and wanted to rest_? She thought to herself as she turned off the news. Rachel walked out of the living room and to the small closet in the hallway, opening it she found the spare blankets Kento had told her they kept. She took one really large blanket and two smaller ones, closing the door with her foot she returned to the living room.

Sage was still on the sofa and fast asleep, the only difference was that Ryo was on the opposite side and just as asleep. Kento on the other hand was slightly snoring in the chair closest to Ryo, who seemed oblivious to the noise. She covered the two on the sofa with the larger blanket, and Kento with one of the smaller ones.

"Now they won't get cold." Rachel smiled and blinked when she felt White Blaze nudge against her leg. "You approve?" She asked scratching behind his ears.

White Blaze gave a soft growl, _I approve_. He knew she couldn't hear him, his brown eyes turned to the room Cye was still in and he walked over to the room. _If_ _she could hear me I'd tell her to get some rest too_. He sat by the foot of the bed.

"I wonder what's taking Rowen so long?" She asked allowed. Wrapping the other blanket around herself, Rachel followed the tiger into Cye's room. _He doesn't look as bad as he did this morning_. She set her hand on his forehead and smiled, looking down to White Blaze she said, "His fever is completely gone."

The tiger sat up straighter, _Wonderful_!

The young girl sat down in the chair next to the bed, reaching over she picked up a book from the table by the bed and began to read.

White Blaze looked at the clock and twitched an ear, _Black Blaze it's near midnight and Rowen hasn't returned do you think you could-_

_I'm right next to him and Sileny, White Blaze. We have been found by an enemy_.

Brown eyes widened and his head turned towards the door.

"White Blaze what is it?" Rachel looked over at him.

He stood up, _Do you need my help_?

_Where are the others_?

* * *

Rowen stared at the creature blocking the road; he could feel his passenger tighten her grip around his waist. Black Blaze was beside them growling fiercely.

This creature was huge, covered in scales with a rooster like head and feet, but a long tail and sharp dagger like teeth. The eyes were closed and it was making a hissing sound.

He had never seen something like this before, "Sileny… what the hell is _that_?"

She tensed up behind him, "I have no idea…"

_Shit_! He gripped the handles of his motorcycle, "Hang on!" Rowen was not about to fight this creature with Sileny right next to him. Revving the bike he speed to the right down an ally and away from the creature. Flinching at the nails digging into his sides as the creature behind them made a low pitched screaming sound.

Speeding past several trash cans he rounded the corner so fast that the sound of rubber skidding echoed around them. He knew the tiger was behind them but didn't look back to see if that thing was too. Turning the bike around a corner again they were on the main street of the city.

Shooting past the shops he took note that many had closed on this end of the city. _Good, less people to get involved_. "Is it still there?" He called to her over the noise of the bike

"Yes!" She shouted back, "And getting closer."

"Hold on but don't kill me," The bike speed up near top speed and rounded the next corner so sharply that he nearly lost the balance and the smell of burning rubber filled his helmet. Sileny shouted something behind him but he couldn't understand what it was. He turned his head to see the creature still following, eyes closed while the heads was turning in a strange way that gave Rowen an idea.

When he was sure a good distance was between them he turned into yet another ally way. Stopped the bike and shut it off. The archer removed his helmet and looked at Sileny, putting his finger to his lips.

She nodded then took off her own helmet.

Black Blaze kept his eyes on the road when a sound of clanking metal caused him to crouch down like he was about to pounce on his pray.

The creature slowly walked past where the trio sat in silence, the eyes still closed. Rowen was sure he had a solid idea until the creature slipped a forked serpent tongue from its beak. _It's like a chicken had a baby with a snake_, he observed. He hadn't seen or heard of something like this before nor had he seen it in the book Sileny had lent them. Sileny didn't know what it was either. _Guys I'm by the business district and need some back up_.

He set his helmet down and turned in his seat, leaning close to the orange haired girl and whispered, "Stay here."

She nodded, "Be careful."

Rowen got off the bike as quietly as he could, his sub-armor covered him as he stood. By now the creature had heard the small noises of the bike and turned back towards them. _Either this thing is blind or there's something with the eyes that I need to look out for_. Pulling his bow and an arrow from the air he walked out onto the street and drew back the arrow. He waited to see if the beast would moved to him; when it didn't he loosed the arrow hitting the ground in front of the enemy. It felt like minutes but within seconds the arrow exploded.

A loud screeching noise filled his ears as the smoke of the debris filled the air around him like fog. The archer felt the ground shake and moved just as the creature was about to run him over, though he didn't move quick enough to avoid the tail that smacked him in the chest. While he had half expected to be knocked back he was instead lifted into the air with the tail constricting around him. One arm was still free; he pulled an arrow from the air and stabbed the tail with all his force.

Rowen was released and hit the ground back first; he winced as he was pinned down by the foot of the creature, though far from helpless. The wind picked up around him and when it began to circle up in a mimicking twister it took the creature up with it. Rowen stood then moved back and made the twisting wind stop. He had expected the beast to fall instead it spread scaly wings and dived down at him.

For half a second he swore the eyes had opened.

The archer loosed another arrow finding his target in the wing.

Shrieking the creature bounced off the side of a building before landing feet from him. It growled, turned its head away and pulled the arrow out of its wing then snapped the arrow in too.

He heard another growling sound but this one he knew well, he didn't have to look to his left to know the large black tiger was there. However he did quickly look over to where Sileny stood, she was hiding back in the shadows and keeping still just as he and the others taught her. His eyes darted back to the creature.

Its face was inches from him by then, growling and it almost sounded like it was trying to form a word.

Rowen wasn't about to try and figure this out. The air around him became heavy, pushing down on the beast. This was one of his newer attacks that he knew worked; the pressure would weigh the enemy down long enough for him to get out a strong blow. Or at least that was how it worked on his friends.

Not this time.

The creature was being affected from the way it carried itself. Its wings spread again and with one swift move of the head Rowen was smashed against the wall of a building, with the creatures head grinding into him.

"Rowen!" Sileny's voice rang out.

The creature stopped and let out a hissing sound.

Black Blaze pounced onto the beast from behind. Unlike the white tiger he never missed his mark. His claws penetrated the beasts neck and ripping into its flesh with his teeth. The sound of pain that it made was music to his ears.

The archer took the hint and brought down his arrow right into the creature's right eye. It dropped him and screamed louder, its tail wrapped around the tiger and pulled it off. Dark blood dripped from the neck, clinging to the few feathers this thing had. The head whip back and forth trying to free the arrow from its eye.

Wind spun around his hands as Rowen used it to send the creature flying back to the other side of the street. He took a deep breath with his ears ringing, then his heart caught in his throat. He had just sent it by the ally where Sileny was hiding.

As if it felt his fear the beast raised its head and flipped back onto its legs, swaying close to the street. It sniffed the air and turned to face the ally way, head darting into the darkness mouth wide open.

"Sil!" Rowen heard her scream and the sound of metal falling. He flew across the street three of his arrows found their way into the monsters back while a fourth shot through the darkness.

The tail almost caught him again, but it was the head that found him. Pain shot through his back as the beast bit down, the bottom of the jaw cracking through his armor. Gritting his teeth Rowen reached out and grabbed the arrow that was still in the eye of this thing. Pulling out the arrow made the creature scream again and drop him.

The Ronin of Strata could feel that he was bleeding before he hit the ground feet first. This needed to be end fast, "Sileny?"

"I'm alright," her shaken voice yelled over the screaming monster.

"Sil, I need you to take cover."

"What do you think I'm doing?!"

"Then stay down!" He notched three arrows in his bow. The wind picked up around him quickly and turned an icy cold. Rowen sent the wind out first watching as it turned around the bleeding beast like a tornado. His arrows follows; with the boost from the wind he watched as on landed in the ground and two others in the wings.

Everything around the creature and inside that tornado exploded. When the wind died down a freezing fog filled the area. Nothing moved. Rowen flew again, this time he went into the ally and found Sileny hiding behind a dumpster and visibly shaken.

He helped her to her feet and Black Blaze ran over to them, "You hurt?"

"No," She shook her head and looked past him. "Oh my gods."  
Rowen whirled around to see the silhouette of the beast standing up.

Blood oozed out of the creatures mouth, dripping onto the ground, it stood and staggered to gain it's balance. A soft more bird like sound as the head moved back to the warriors direction.

Rowen stood between the beast and Sileny, Black Blaze at his side. His vision was slightly blurred so he wasn't trusting how weak this thing was looking. It was then that he saw one of the eyes was opened a little, though it wasn't looking at him. Instead the creature stopped and turned its head up to the sky.

The archer saw it too, those first signs of daybreak.

Turning its head to the side the creature hissed, sending blood in their direction before backing up under a sky bridge and fading away.

Black Blaze roared after it, _Coward_!

"Is it gone?" Sileny asked unsure.

"I think so," Rowen lowered his bow, slowly becoming aware of the pain that was gripping hold of his body. The worst of the pain was in his side, though he couldn't tell if that was from the bite or his friend's fingernails. His armor gave way to his street clothes, he felt Sileny's hands on his back along with the sticky feeling of blood on his skin. Rowen reached a hand out and leaned on the wall for support, "We need to get out of here before people start showing up." He winced when he felt the hand on his side, hissing he looked over his shoulder to glare at Sileny.

She wasn't looking at him. Her azure eyes were locked onto his side, "You better let me clean this up for you when we get to my place." Those eyes then found his, "I'll drive."

Normally he would have argued, instead he gave her the keys. Rowen was in no state to drive.

* * *

On a high building the vampire glared down at the scene of the battle that had taken place. Marijke was less than pleased and her lord was going to likely kill that fool for this slip up, "Devu you idiot. That was not the boy and girl I told you to go after!"

Halo and that younger girl would have been easy pickings if he had gone to that residence like she instructed him. They would have also gotten the Torrent armor as a bonus and this would be almost over!

Her head would be on the line for this too unless she came up with a better idea and soon.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

* * *

Sileny had seen Rowen and his friends shirtless many times over the summer, never this close though. A good looking shirtless man was supposed to send girls her age into squealing fits of hormones, no matter what their nationality. Battle wounds were supposed to enhance that sexy look too.

They didn't for her.

Rowen had stood in the bathroom with his hands gripping the sink while she had cleaned the wounds on his side. Six markings, each an inch long and half an inch apart in the triangle shape of that thing's beak. The wounds hadn't looked too deep to her, though you'd never guess that from all the blood she washed off his skin.

It had taken a while for the bleeding to stop after they arrived at her home. She had taken his shirt off him when they stepped into the door and threw it into the washing machine. He had taken a hand-towel from the shelving and put it over his wounds, when he apologized for taking a white one she told him that the blood would bleach out. After they went into the bathroom she grabbed one of her black hand-towels and soaked it in hot water before putting it over the white one.

After the bleeding had stopped she told him to stand still and not move. He had hissed, winced, and cursed under his breath when she cleaned the blood from him. She could hardly wait for the next part.

Tossing the now red and black towels into the bathtub, she opened a basket on the side of the sink to pull out the disinfectant.

Rowen cursed when he saw it, "You're not putting that on me."

She glared at him, "You're not going to put it on yourself! I don't want you stretching to bleed out again, now try not to wake the neighbors." That was all the warning she dared give him.

He gritted his teeth and hissed loudly at the stinging.

"Sorry," Sileny managed a whisper.

"It's fine," He said through his pain. The archer's body didn't hurt nearly as bad as it had an hour or so ago. The wound Sileny had cleaned for his was undoubtedly going to leave a mark, well six of them really. And he could also feel the bruises form on his leg and his left hand. His eyes drifted to the basket beside the girl, "When did you two start buying these things?"

"The day after the vampire showed up," Setting the disinfectant back she picked up a box of gauze and a medical wrap, "It was Rachel's idea. She said we should go out and get this supply in case one or both of us had to play doctor."

"Rachel's going to be a great doctor one day," He watched her, "She wants to be a pediatrician right?"

"Yes," She began to wrap the medical wrap around him, "She's already been accepted into Tokyo's Medical School. And although she's going to be a great pediatrician I'm sure she'll make a great personal doctor for the five of you."

The blue-haired boy let himself smile, "We'll try not to take up too much of her time."

"I don't think she would care," Sileny ripped the wrap with her teeth before gently padding it down, "Okay all done."

He leaned off the sink and put a hand over his newly fixed wound, _she did a good job_. "You should be a nurse."

"You're hilarious."

"Then what are studying fo-" He trailed off when he saw something, "Sil your hip."

She gave him a puzzled look before following his gaze to the tear and blood stain on her jeans, "Oh hello."

The image of that thing snapping at her came to mind, "Let me look at that," he offered.

"_Hell no_!" Azure eyes glared at him, "I'll look at it, and you go out and call the apartment or something."

Part of him couldn't blame her for that but still, "It's not like I was going to make ga-ga eyes at your underwear or anything." Rowen walked out of the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

_After these last few months does she really think I'd do that to her_?

_The scratch was on her hip, and you are a man_. A small voice said.

He let out a groan as he walked into the kitchen. The air in there was cooler than it had been in the bathroom; it clung to him.

Black Blaze was sleeping under the dinner table with the ever elusive house cats curled up next to him. The tiger never even moved when Rowen opened the cupboards and set a glass down, or when he turned on the water in the sink. He did move though when the sound of Sileny running up the stairs echoed in the room.

"Hey Black Blaze," Rowen turned off the water and took a few big gulps of the water. He set the glass on the counter and picked up the cordless phone, dialing the number.

It rang three times before someone picked up, "_Hello_?"

"Morning Rachel," _She's exhausted_.

"_Rowen, where are you_?"

He leaned his good side against the counter, "At your place."

She hesitated, "_You spent the night with Sileny_?"

"Something like that."

All at once she was wide awake on the other line, "_What happened_?"

He could hear Sage's voice in the background, "Are you and Sage the only ones awake?"

"_At the moment yes, now answer my question_."

"I was attacked last night while bringing Sileny home," He answered, "It was some kind of new monster and she doesn't even know what it was."

"_Are you two okay_?"

"She's in better shape than I am," she walked into the kitchen and he took note of her new pants, "We'll head over there in a little while and I'll go over all the details."

"_Alright. Be careful_."

He hung up and looked at the orange haired girl, "How's your hip?"

"It was just a scratch, I probably got it from the trash bins."

* * *

Rachel bit the inside of her lip hard. Had he called for help last night?

"Rachel."

She turned to look at Sage, "Rowen and Sileny were attacked last night."

Sage knew that look on her face, "We would have heard if he had called."

"Would you?" She wasn't sure, "You guys passed out after what, three swallows? If he really did call for help would you have heard?"

"Rowen is skilled enough that he should be fine," he gently put a hand on her shoulder, "And he won't be mad at you either."

The young girl nodded, "I'll start on breakfast you should go in an keep an eye on Cye."

He nodded and left her in the kitchen. Cye hadn't really changed since last night, aside his breathing finally sounding normal and some color returning. Walking around to the other side of the room and opened up the window. Fresh air would be good for all of them, especially Cye with the pending storm on its way. "Hey Rachel."

"Yeah?"

"Would you open the windows in the kitchen and living room when you have a minute? I think the fresh air will do us all some good, especially Rowen and Cye."

"Alright."

The blonde sat down in the chair beside the bed. He wasn't sure if the others could tell what he saw or not but there where faint signs that Cye was starting to come back to them. Little things that he did when sleeping began showing a few nights ago. Subtle twitching of his fingers and brow mostly but Sage wanted to stay optimistic.

Soon the smells of eggs, tea and bacon filled the air which turned out to be the perfect alarm clocks for Ryo and Kento. Sage heard Rachel tell his friends about that mornings news concerning Rowen and Sileny. After that he zoned out until the door opened and it was time for answers.

He stood and walked out of the room to look at his best friend. It was obvious just by looking at the taller one that he was in pain and beyond exhausted.

"So what happened?" Kento asked, "You both look like hell."

"Good morning to you too, Kento," Rowen sat on the sofa and bit back a wince, "I went to pick up Sileny. We where half way back to her place when chicken-lizard-looking-thing came out of nowhere."

The Chineseman gawked, "A what..?"

"This," Sileny pulled out a notepad from her pack to show them a drawing. "And before you ask, I have no idea what it is."

Sage didn't know if he should be impressed by the drawing's quality or of the monster the drawing was of.

"Oh my god," Rachel walked out of the kitchen and took the notepad from Sileny, staring at the drawing.

"Chicken-lizard isn't off the mark," Ryo looked over Rachel's shoulder, "How big was that thing?"

Rowen shook his head, "Maybe somewhere between thirteen and fifteen feet." Both he and Sileny tag-teamed on the rest of the story finishing up just as breakfast did.

"How bad is his side?" The Ronin leader looked to the Swedish girl.

"It'll leave a mark but luckily it isn't infected."

The younger girl looked at Rowen, "I'll look at it later if you want?"

"I don't think that's necessary. I'd rather you look at Sileny's hip."

"What happened to your hip?" Kento's eyes darted to Sileny.

She gave Rowen a look that would kill a zombie before she answered, "My hip is fine thank you. I just scrapped it on the dumpster or something. I'm not the one who was flung around like a rag."

_Liar_. Rachel thought, "I'll look at it later if she lets me."

"Change of subject," The elder girl asked, "How's Cye?"

"He gets better every few hours from the looks of things," Ryo answered.

_I'm not the only one who noticed_, Sage was happy to hear, "His color is almost back to normal and his breathing is normal now."

Kento added, "There's also some sign that he might be moving his arms a little. It's subtle but I think he'll wake up soon."

It wasn't much longer after those two had returned that they had both fallen prey to sleep. Rowen had passed out on the sofa before the morning news had even started. While he occupied the sofa Sileny had fallen sleep in the chair, that didn't last long though before Kento had moved her to his bed.

"That might freak her out a little," Rachel warned.

He shrugged, "I haven't slept on my bed all week, the sheets are clean too so someone better use it. And I'm not moving Rowen."

* * *

He was cold. Cold and wet. His body felt sore and overly tired like he had been running for hours on end. Never before had he felt like this… where was he? The last thing Cye could remember was fighting that thing with Kento then a sharp pain throughout his whole body.

Grunting he slowly opened his eyes and found himself in his room. He must have passed out and brought back here after they won the fight. Everything still felt dark and far away like he was in a dream. Though he could feel the sunlight on his face.

Outside his room he could hear his friends talking but his throat was dry so he couldn't speak. Thus he opted to sit up.

That was a _bad_ idea.

The room spun as he had to shut his eyes tightly and hold his head.

"Whoa careful," a voice said with urgency.

He tried to smile as he turned his head towards the direction of the voice and somehow found his, "Ryo?" He sounded and felt like he had swallowed sand. His eyes opened to see tiger blue ones staring back wide and alert. Cye lay back on his bed, everything hurt, his ears where ringing and there was a strange taste in his mouth.

"How do you feel?" Ryo asked, though he was sure he knew the answer.

The elder Ronin took a deep breath and said, "The last time I felt anything like this was when I was six and had the flue for three weeks. I hurt all over, there's this weird taste in my mouth, and it hurts to talk…"

The swordsman nodded slowly, "You where poisoned."

Sea green eyes widened.

"The Manticore stabbed you in the back, I killed it the same way I killed Keitaro," Ryo began, "We got you back here and called Sekhmet who was able to keep you alive but he hadn't seen that kind of poison before so he couldn't cure it."

"Then how…?"

"We were followed back here by the kitsune, she challenged Sage to a duel on the terms that if he won she would give him the cure and return Yuli to us, but if she won she'd get your armor and his."

"Lucky for me Sage won."

Ryo nodded, "Yes, but, he and Yuli went to the hospital. They are out now but I don't think we'll hear from Yuli for a long time. "

Cye gave a small nod, "I hope they'll be okay." He closed his eyes again and rubbed his face.

The leader was debating on how much more he should tell his friend. How long he had been down and that he also had to thank Rachel too. His thoughts were interrupted though when the bedroom door opened. Ryo expected it to be Kento for the umpteenth time and was relieved to see Sage walk in instead.

"He lives." The blonde smiled at Cye and sat on the edge of the bed, two large mugs in his hands. Handing one to Ryo he kept his eyes on Cye, "How do you feel?"

"I haven't felt this terrible for a long time," He answered, and he caught the smell of the drinks, "Is that coffee?"

"Yeah it is." Ryo nodded, "You want some water?"

"I'd rather some tea," he had never been a coffee drinker though he did enjoy the smell.

"I'll fix you some." All eyes turned to the door where Rachel stood smiling with Kento behind her. "Any particular flavor?"

"Not whatever you gave us last night," Ryo half joked.

The potter raised an eyebrow; he could get the story later, "Green or that Irish Breakfast tea."

"Coming right up," She walked past Kento and vanished back into the kitchen.

Sea green eyes turned from his best friend to the blonde, "Sage."

He looked at him.

"Ryo told me what you did. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

The recovering Ronin looked around his room when it struck him what was missing, "Where is Rowen?"

"Asleep in the living room," Kento explained before he and the others told him about what happened last night


	15. Chapter 15

**Power**

Chapter 15

* * *

Rachel turned the light on in her bedroom, while the sun was setting outside inside she felt like it was already late at night. She was tired, her body ached all over from stress or fatigue-she really couldn't tell. Sitting on her bed the soft downy blankets below her and the pillow to her side called for her to sleep. To lay down and forget about the day, the fighting, her injured friends, the knots forming in her stomach.

_If I sleep now I'll just have nightmares_, She said to herself. Running her fingers through her auburn hair she closed her eyes tightly. "At least Cye woke up," her voice echoed off the walls.

A soft grunt got her to open her eyes and see the large black tiger staring up at her.

"You hungry, Black Blaze?" Rachel reached her hand out and scratched under his chin. "I don't know what we have here to eat, we might be getting take out."

"Take out is really the only option unless we want to go out."

Sky blue eyes looked at her friend in the doorway. Sileny looked a little better than she did that morning but she still looked awful. "Take out it is then, you want me to call?"

Sileny shook her head, "I'll call it in. You take a nap and I'll get you up when the food gets here."

"I don't think I could sleep right now if I wanted to," Rachel said truthfully, "I'm still worried about them."

"I am too," She walked over and sat on the bed next to her, "But we've done everything we really can do right now. Ryo called Sekhmet like he promised and if Cye isn't out of the clear completely I'm sure he'll think of something. Sage and Kento get better by the day. Rowen... Rowen will just need to be careful for a couple days."

Rachel shrank back, "Did he call for help...?"

"I don't know," she shrugged one shoulder, "I did tell him about the tea and he wasn't upset about that. He actually looked like he would have liked some."

"I did leave it there..." She trailed off, "Ryo's the only one who hasn't been attacked yet."

"I pity the idiot they send to do that," The Swedish girl stood up, "I wouldn't worry about your crush Rachel."

Her head shot up with eyes wide, "What?!"

Sileny just gave her a tired smile, "I'll go order the food." She walked from the bedroom.

The other girl shifted uncomfortably and bit the inside of her lip. After a few minutes of silence she looked at the tiger, "Black Blaze do you think it will always be like this?"

_I wish I could tell you it wouldn't be_, he set his head on her lap, _But it would likely be a lie, little cub_.

Her eyes closed again and she began to pet his head softly.

* * *

_I swear if there wasn't a test tomorrow_! Sileny groaned and set the takeout on the table in the living room. She may have gotten some sleep earlier but she was still exhausted. Her whole body ached and by the gods she was going to try and get in a bath before she finally passed out.

"Rachel if you're still awake the food in here!" She shouted.

She could hear her moving upstairs, though Black Blaze was the first one down them. He walked over and sat beside her, his nose twitching at the smell of the food.

"Yes I got you your favorite," the older girl reached over and opened three large boxes of a pork dish, "Don't eat it so fast this time," she added before setting them on the floor.

The tiger began to eat as Rachel came down the stairs.

"It smells good," Rachel said taking a seat on the floor next to Sileny, "Was this one on me or you?"

"Me," Sileny answered and handed her friend some chopsticks, "You bought the last two so this one and the next are on me."

The younger girl nodded, "Thanks." She opened up the box with her mixed vegetables, "Is your hip really okay? Rowen acted really concerned."

Azure eyes rolled, "Yes I'm sure. He just over reacted about it, he even wanted to look at for himself but it's really just a scratch. Honestly it looks like I just cut myself shaving."

"Waited he wanted to see? Why didn't you just show him?"

Sileny felt herself blush, "Because it's here," she pointed to the scar, "Right under my underwear."

"Okay now it makes sense, though I don't think he would have done anything. Hell he probably would have dropped it."

"That's not the point, Rachel. It's the principle of the thing." She pointed with her chopsticks, "If you had been in my spot and it was Ryo instead of Rowen would you have let him see?"

The thought made Rachel blush to her ears, "No of course not!"

"See it's the same thing." Sileny opened the box with her dinner, "I know he meant well so I'm not really mad, just annoyed."

The German girl took a few bites before she found the courage to ask, "Do you like him?"

"I dunno," She took a bite of her dinner, "He's smart and cute-they all are in their own ways."

"Can't argue there."

Sileny looked at her, "I guess I like him, I really don't know for sure yet, though there's something about him." She shrugged a shoulder, "What about Ryo? I see how you look at him."

Rachel swallowed, "I like him a lot. I won't lie about that it's just well…I don't know. After everything that's gone on I don't think I should even try to get his attention." She looked down, "And besides I don't think he'd be interested."

"In you?" Sileny set the box on the table, "Ryo would be an idiot not to be interested in you."

"That's not what I mean."

"Then what do you mean?"

She paused, "Luna. If the guys really think Ryo had feelings for her I'm sure he wouldn't want to go through that again."

"I say that's for him to decide," the orange haired girl leaned back against the sofa.

"Either way I don't think now's the best time to try anything."

"Probably not," Sileny nodded, "You'll just have to wait and see. Regardless I have to ask, when did you start getting a crush on him?"

She took a few more bites before answering, "I can't believe I'm saying this but it was actually the day after I saw him fighting Keitaro." Sky blue eyes met azure ones, "When he came to tell me about the armors, the war with Talpa, and how he and others had come to fight Keitaro. That he went out of his way to check on me, explain things to me when he didn't really know me…"

"You're such a hopeless romantic, you know that right?"

"I know," She smiled then frowned, "Sileny do you think it will always be like this? Watching them fight from the sidelines as they get bruised and battered?"

"Most likely. We don't have magical armor given to us by a dead child to protect us. Nor can we control any of the elements. For now we can play doctor and support them as we can." The Swedish girl studied her roommate, "I don't like watching them go through this any better than you do. And I promise you they hate see us see them like this."

"I know they do."

Black Blaze sat there watching them. Two young girls worried about their friends and openly talking about possible and real feelings for two of their friends. He should have seen the latter coming, hell White Blaze should have seen that too. All seven of them were around the same age. This was bound to happen.

If they could hear him he would have told them many things. They should forget those feelings. Tell themselves it wasn't possible one way or another. Something he knew would be hurtful but would still save them more hurt than they would know. If he could talk to them he could save them from possible heart ache, them and the others.

But he couldn't talk to Rachel or Sileny. He would just have to watch and listen until he found a way. _I'll need to tell this to White Blaze. Though knowing him he might actually encourage it_.

* * *

He sat high on his throne, staring blankly at the images floating in the orbs. "I am sorely disappointed," he said at last. "They are children and this shouldn't be so difficult."

The vampire kept her gaze down, "Perhaps we have been going about this the wrong way? The head on attacks have been doing damage to them, only one remains unscathed. Might I have your permission to set up a trap for them?"

His gaze shifted to her, "What sort of trap would you set?"

"Before she was captured, Ekin had learned these children still have a fear and grudge against what has been thrusts upon them. I would play on that fear and anger. For this I must ask to use the ashes from Africa and the Mermaid's Mirror."

The doors of the throne room opened and figure wrapped in bandages entered the room, it walked until it was ten paces from the throne and knelt down, "My lord I have some news about these Ronin Warriors you may find useful."

"Speak."

"I was watching those two girls and the demon tiger as you commanded, they had mentioned a fight between the Ronin Warriors and Keitaro."

Haytie raised his eyebrows, "Keitaro? Why does that name sound so familiar?" He looked to Marijke.

"Keitaro was the name of a warrior who we fought and killed last time," She answered before looking at the spy, "They must have been fighting a ghost."

"It appears that way, this fight must have ended recently from the way these two girls talked. I can only guess our arrival must have something to do with it. The dead have their ways of knowing."

"Marijke, you will get everything you need for this trap of yours. In the meantime we shall continue to act as we have until you are ready or we capture one of them." His eyes turned from her to the spy, "Go back and continue watching them. If they truly are a source of strength we must keep them away from our prizes at all cost."

The spy stood and bowed, "As you command," then it was gone.

"Marijke."

"Yes, my lord?"

"Send out the hounds before you go collect the mirror, send them to the house of rocks and water to fetch them for me."

She gave a low bow and walked from the room. _I hope Ekin has that mirror with her, she can help with the distraction_.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N Hey look! A two chapter update! :) Both 15 and 16 have been added and it was less than two months later. Thank you to those who keep reading my story, it tells me you do enjoy it. And please don't forget to R&R. Feedback really helps me continue to write.

* * *

**Power**

Chapter 16

* * *

Cye sat on the sofa in the living room, his eyes fixed on the drawing in his hand, "This was the thing they saw the other night?"

"Yeah," Ryo looked at him then at the drawing pad. "Rowen said Sileny drew it the way they both saw it. I didn't know she was talented, still that thing is just freaky."

"It sure is, I thought that manticore was a monster. This thing is worse," he bit back a yawn. "Sileny really doesn't know what it is?"

"She doesn't have a clue," Ryo admitted, "Before they left she said she'd look again."

"I wonder if Mia would know?"

He shrugged, "Sage thinks we should ask her."

Sea green eyes looked his friend over, "I know you aren't happy about that but we may as well give it a try."

"I just wanted to leave her and Jack Alone as long as possible," He sighed aggravated, "I'll go to the university tomorrow and see if she's there."

"I'd go with you but…" he shrugged and winced.

Ryo shook his head, "Stay here and rest, I'll tell her hello for you."

The potter nodded, "Thanks." He leaned back and looked back at the drawing. "This almost looks like a dragon."

"Huh?"

"Well… kinda anyways," he looked at the clock across the room, "Kento will be home soon."

"I'm in too hurry to leave, Cye."

"I'm in no hurry to make you leave," He gave his friend a tired smile, "You know that."

Ryo smiled and shook his head, "Thanks for trying to cheer me up. That's not like you."

The smile faded, "Now you see how we feel when you get hurt and brush it off. It's kinda strange isn't it?" He saw Ryo's expression change, "We've been injured and you haven't yet."

"It's not funny."

"Wasn't supposed to be. The real problem with it is that is leaves you with no back up."

_No, it enrages me like you can't imagine_. He groaned, "I'm more worried about them attacking while we are down like Sekhmet, Rowen, and Sileny suggested. We're venerable now so it's a prime time for attack."

Cye could have sworn he heard something before that sentence, "At least there's a small Brightside."

"I don't see it."

"Yuli's out of the hospital now. Also both Rachel and Sileny are pretty much unharmed and safe."

"Now if that will just stay the Brightside. When this is over we need to go see Yuli and maybe hang out with him like we used to."

"We should do something with Rachel and Sileny too," Cye looked thoughtful.

The Ronin of Fire felt his stomach turn, "If they still want to be with us."

Cye looked at him, "…"

"Mia never saw us this bad," he said slowly, "Nor did Yuli."

"I don't think they'll leave Ryo," The older boy sat up, ignoring the pain, "They had the chance to leave after that night on Tokyo Tower and they chose to stay. I'm pretty sure they're in with us for the long haul."

Ryo went to say something when the door opened and Kento walked in, "Hey man. How was work?"

"It was a long and busy as all hell," Kento answered while closing the door, "Mama say's hello and sent me home with soup for you, buddy." He held up a take-out bag and looked at Cye.

The potter smiled, "Your mama likes to take care of us when we're down, huh?"

He smiled, "That's what mom's do, isn't it?"

Ryo gave a sad smile, "Well at least you look better than this morning."

The Chinese man smiled brightly and sat beside his ill friend, "My family is my cure for what ails me. Always has been." He handed the soup and a spoon to his roommate, "So what were you two talking about?"

"Rachel and Sileny," Cye answered.

"What about them?"

"I think we should hand out with them for real when this is over, no training, no talking about fight. None of that."

"I'm down," he nodded, "Maybe we could all go catch a movie or spend a day at the beach? We haven't done that for a long time."

"I like the idea," the warrior of water nodded before he started eating his soup.

Though he still wasn't sure about this Ryo gave a nod.

Kento looked over his black haired friend and guessed there was something up but decided not to pry, "Change of subject how are you feeling buddy?" He looked at Cye.

He nodded and swallowed, "Better, now I only feel like I got hit by a car instead of the Shinkansen."

"Yeah that's an improvement." He sighed in relief.

"Ryo's a good doctor when he's not being the patient."

The boy in question stared at Cye and furrowed his brow, "That a compliment or insult?" His friends laughed.

The laughter stopped when the tiger walked from the bedroom, growling loudly, his teeth bared as his eyes focused on the door.

All three heads snapped in that direction. Then the lights began to flicker in the room and a strange musty like smell soon followed.

"The hell?" Ryo was the first one up.

The air in the room began to feel heavy as the other two stood, Cye had to almost lean onto Kento since standing was still a challenge.

White Blaze's fur bristled and he let out a roar.

They began to hear another growling noise from somewhere and then there where whispers buzzing around them like bees.

"There is four of them, not two." The voice was harsh a raspy.

"We are more," Another deeper voice said, "We shall over power them."

"Who's there?!" Kento demanded.

The whispering stopped.

Cye was the first to don his sub-armor. It felt different from the last time, stiff and it clung tightly to his skin.

Ryo and Kento had moved next to their friend in a protective manner. While he wasn't really out of the clear, Kento was in better shape at the moment than Cye. His eyes glanced to Ryo and he saw the anger on his face an especially in his eyes.

_I called to Sage and Rowen_, Ryo's voice entered his friend's mind.

_They're on the other side of town_! Kento reminded him before he relayed that message to Cye.

If Cye heard him he didn't say so, his eyes were fixed on something out the window, "What the hell is _that_?"

On the apartment building across from them stood a large canine shape, black with two glowing yellow eyes. The size of the creature wasn't the only strange thing, he form moved and flicked as though it was black fire or a shadow.

It threw back its head and howled like a dying dog. All at once a large pack of the same kinds of dogs or wolves, whatever they were, appeared around it. Three of them ran forward and leapt off the building, ran across the parking lot and ran through the window, but failed to break the glass.

All three Ronin stood in defense and glared down at these three dog creatures. Now that they stood close the trio could tell these things were transparent. They snarled up at them, eyes glowing as bright as a candle's flame.

White Blaze stood between these hounds and the three humans. He had seen these once before many centuries ago, and they had been the start of the end. The tiger was not about to let that happen now!

One hound snapped at the tiger, red drool dripping from the mouth, "We meet again, Byakuen. Is that black one still alive too and fighting with his lord?"

Ryo wasn't sure what shocked him more. The hound could talk or that it acted like it knew White Blaze, and it knew about Black Blaze and the lord could only have been Saber Strike.

The tigers ears had pinned flat against his head and he was crouching like he was about to pounce.

It was the hounds to pounced first. All three jumped out at the tiger and the Ronin at once. White Blaze caught one by the throat in midair, while the other two got past him.

Ryo acted first, round kicking the other hounds away from him and his friends. The whined as they hit a wall but stood back up and charged. He was knocked back onto Cye, and they both fell on the floor, he winced and glared up at the hound's face which was inches from his own.

Before he could strike he felt Cye move under him, the water warrior had manifested his trident and knocked the hound back against the door with one swift steaming hot jet of water.

"Get off!" Kento yelled and kicked the hound off that had tried to pin him. It landed not far from the other dog. _We can't fight in here_! He told the other two.

_If we go outside we'll be surrounded_! Cye protested.

_They came through the window like ghosts in a movie_, Kento pointed out, _we'll be surrounded either way_.

The hounds snapped at then before running through the door.

"They want us outside," Ryo said allowed.

"I smell a trap," Cye added.

"At least if we do go outside we can move and no completely destroy the apartment," Kento looked at his friends.

White Blaze dropped the dead hound, which disintegrated, and looked at the Ronin before turning his gaze back to the window.

The hound was howling again.

"I guess we don't have much choice," Cye admitted as he stood up.

Ryo cursed loudly before his armor covered him, _I hate being right sometimes_.

* * *

Sage and Rowen sprinted across the rooftops in full armor towards their friend's apartment. They had only gone home to shower, change, and feed the cat and had only been able to do those three things before they got the call that something was wrong.

Half way down the street from their apartment was when they got the confirmation that it was an attack.

While his side still hurt him, Rowen was at least in a semi-fighting condition. The same couldn't be said for Cye who was still recovering. _The one time I really wish I was in a condition to fly with a friend_! They both would have been there long before now if he could have.

Soon the tops of the apartment were in sight, then a large cloud of smoke and the flames that licked up at the air signaled where their friends were.

"At least Ryo was still here," Sage pulled out his sword.

"Yeah," the taller boy pulled out his arrows, "Let's show them who they're really messing with now," he stopped and aimed his arrow high and released it into the air. Just as he started running he knew the arrow hit the mark when the sonic boom sounded followed by the shockwave.

_Damn it Rowen_! Cye's voice echoed in his friend's mind, _Warn us first next time_!

_Sorry man_, Rowen took off running again and soon caught back up with Sage.

"What the hell are those?!" Sage stared at the hound like figures attacking his friends.

"Not a clue!"

The blonde swung his sword, catching the sun's rays on the tip of the blade, _Look out_! The other three moved just as the bright beam of balled lightning rolled across the roof top and through the ranks of the hounds.

"Glad you guys made it!" Kento smirked at them.

"The hell are these things?" Sage asked as he stopped next to Cye.

"Some kind of demonic hounds," Ryo answered, "They act like they know who White Blaze is."

Sage and Rowen didn't even try to hide their surprise, "What?"

The hounds began to stand their eyes glowing brighter. The whole pack began to circle around the troop, snarling and snapping.

Ryo moved his swords, both of which blazed with white-hot fire, _These guys are easy to injure but hard to kill_. He said to his friends. They stood back to back watching the hounds starting to run, soon the shadowy shapes bleed together and it stood above them.

The hounds had formed into a single solid black smoky mass that towered high over their heads, red drool seeping from the mouth. It gave a growl and the ground beneath them vibrated.

"Holy shit!"

_This thing is bigger than that thing I fought the other night_! Rowen glared.

The Ronin of Hardrock gripped his staff, "…"

The hound lunched its massive head down, mouth open. The Ronin scattered but it managed to catch Ryo and Kento's arms in its mouth. Both men screamed as it flung its head into the air, taking them with it.

Pain shot through Ryo's arm and he felt the blood running down his skin and soaking into the armor. He had to let go of the sword that hand had held, as it fell the flames around it died out.

"Ryo!" Kento glared at the beast, he felt his arm was between the gaps of teeth, Ryo obviously hadn't been so lucky. "Let us go you ugly mutt!" He gripped his staff and stabbed the beasts jaw with the edge.

It yowled and tossed its head but didn't let go.

Cye ran beside Sage and the two struck at once, Cye unleashed a tidal wave at the hound's chest while Sage plunged his sword through the water sending his thunder through the water and to the hound.

This time the hound let go but only after throwing the two Ronin across the sky.

Both of them hit Rowen before the trio fell to the rooftop of the small office building below. Pain gripped his back in a death hug at the force of the fall and he could feel blood begin to seep out his side wounds. He looked at his friends.

Kento immediately rolled off him and Ryo stood, gripping his arm as the blood dripped onto the ground. The pain painted all over his face.

"Ryo!" Rowen stood up so fast the world was trying to spin around him.

The Ronin of Wildfire didn't answer, he couldn't lie and say he was alright. He turned to look back at the beast and his eyes widened, "Cye! Sage!"

Cye was pinned against the ground, being crushed by the paw of the creature, one claw deep in his thigh and the blood was starting to pool on the ground. The blonde warrior was under the opposite paw, the tip of the claw slowly digging its way through the skin on his left arm.

The spear in Kento's hand shook and he slammed it hard on the ground, the building below them shook and his friends saw a crack form under the hound before the building below it collapsed under the hind legs. He just managed to see Sage jumping out of the way as the beast lifted both paws up, Kento saw Sage had pulled Cye up with him.

Rowen loosed three arrows to the spot where the hound had fallen, bright lights filled the area at the impact and the air swirled around the spot like a tornado.

The Ronin of Torrent joined the attack, holding onto Sage for balance, he sent a stream of freezing water into the tornado, creating a water spout. The other three joined in the attack, Sage whirled his sword and ribboned lightening crashed through the spout, creating a blinding light show. It was joined by a last of white fire that all but erupted from the ground below. Cye saw sharp shards from the earth spinning in the winds.

There was an ear piercing sound before the attacks exploded. Shards of ice and earth flew all around them, the sound caused car alarms to go off and the ground shook beneath them. Sage staggered and fell back with Cye. The dust hung in the air like a thick morning fog rolling in from the sea and when it finally settled the hound was gone.


	17. Chapter 17

**Power**

Chapter 17

* * *

Sileny sat on her bed, sounded by books and old notepads she hadn't opened since Jr. High. All of them filled with myths and notes and little drawings of the creatures the myths talked about. Her parents had archeology and history, while she had always had myths and legends. And somewhere in her little library of stories there had to be some kind of reference to that thing she ran into with Rowen.

It had been the one time she didn't have an answer for something that was clearly a mythical beast. They had become her friends and the last two times she had named and given information without too much effort made her happy. She wasn't surprised they hadn't known or even heard about minotaurs or manticors, those were creatures of Greek and Roman myths. Only the kitsune had been something native to this country.

She picked up a book and set it down when she read the title, nothing would have been in that one. The next and last book in her collection sat in her lap, ornate pictures of dragons illustrated on the cover.

"Might as well," opening it up, she began reading across the familiar pages and stories. Downstairs she heard the door open, "Rachel?" She asked.

Black Blaze trotted into the bedroom with the younger girl behind him. "Hey," she answered.

Sileny glanced up, "What's wrong? You're home really early."

Rachel moved a few of the notebooks and sat on the bed, "The whole block where the tea house is was just bought. They're going to knock everything down and build a new group of building that will be up to the new codes. The manager didn't bother to tell any of us about this, nor the lad lord, therefore I'm jobless now."

"You're kidding right?" Sileny let the book fall back into her lap, "Do you want me to talk to my boss and see if there is an opening?"

She shrugged, "I guess." Sky blue eyes scanned the room, "What about you? Have you had any luck?"

"No and it's pissing me off more and more as I find nothing." She lifted the book back up and scanned the page.

"It shows too," Rachel picked up one of the note books, the page opened to some old drawings that made her smile, "I still think you'd be a great illustrator."

"I'd love to be an illustrator, but this country has a bias."

She frowned, "Sileny-" the girl stopped as she saw her friend's eyes widen, "Sileny?"

"Holy shit…" she lifted the book up, "I think I might have found it."

Rachel spied the cover, "It's a dragon…?"

"Kind of," she looked at her friend, "It's a cockatrice, and they're the opposite of a basilisk."

"Okay that word does found familiar." The younger girl admitted. She looked at the black tiger beside her, "Have you heard that word before?"

Black Blaze shook his head.

"A basilisk is what happens when a toad hatches a chicken egg. They can kill you by looking you in the eye and are supposed to be poisons. I guess the reason Rowen wasn't poisoned is because it was the bird-ish form and not the snake one."

"What?" Rachel looked at her best friend.

"Well it is," she handed her the book, "Look at those pictures."

"This isn't like what you drew."

"Read the third sentence."

She read it aloud, "Terrifying as the beast is, it is also called a cockatrice when the form is more like a rooster than a snake."

"This has to be it." Sileny insisted, "I've got just about everything else with myths that I can get my hands on and that's the only thing I've found that's even close."

"That book you gave to the guys, would it have a passage on the basilisk in there?"

Sileny thought for a moment, "I think so. I'm tempted to call them now, then at least they'll know since it's likely to come back."

"Probably a good idea," her friend nodded, "We should go get a few things for dinner after you call them."

The orange hair girl nodded, "Sounds like a plan." Both of them stood up and left the room, the tiger tailing them. Rachel went to her bedroom to change while Sileny headed to the living room. Dialing the number to the apartment Rowen and Sage shared first.

No answer.

_They must still be with Kento and Cye_, She thought and dialed up that number. She heard the phone ringing but no one was answering. Sileny leaned back against the wall, worry on her face.

"_This is Cye and Kento, we can't answer so please leave your name and number and we'll get back to you_."

Beep.

_Shit_. "Guys it's Sileny, I think I found out what that thing was that attacked Rowen. It's called a cockatrice and it's related to the basilisk. There should be something about the basilisk in that book I lent you guys." pause, "Let us know if we can help somehow." She hung up.

Black Blaze was looking up at her.

"I think they might be fighting…" The girl grabbed the cordless phone, just in case, and headed back up the stairs. "I left them a message."

Rachel poked her head out of her bedroom, pulling down the purple shirt she picked out, "Left a message…?

"No one answered the phone at the apartments."

Her best friend mirrored her fears, "Cye and Kento's apartment?"

Sileny nodded.

"Well... I guess we won't be going that way to get the groceries."

"Nope. And I don't think we should head over there either unless they want you to look at whatever injuries they got this time."

Rachel shook her head slowly.

* * *

The water in the sink was redder than his armor; cold and cloudy. His arm hurt like nothing he had ever felt before. All the muscles in his arm throbbed and ached, he had been bitten by White Blaze once, a complete accident, and that had hurt like hell. This hurt much worse. Ryo flexed his arm in the water and glanced out the kitchen at his friends.

Kento had closed the blinds on the windows so the neighbors wouldn't chance to see them inside. He was the only one who hadn't really been hurt, thus he and Sage whose injury wasn't as bad as it looked at first, became the doctors for the afternoon.

The blonde had been wrapping Rowen's wound back up, "You and Sileny weren't kidding about this bite."

"At least it doesn't hurt as bad," he replied. "How's your arm?" He was looking at Ryo.

"If I was a lizard and it would grow back better, I'd chop it off."

"Would you chop off my leg too if it would grow back?" Cye asked sarcastically.

"Yes," Ryo looked at him. Cye had been close to death and was just coming back, now he could hardly stand. They should have gone to the hospital; though the only doctor in the country who'd buy their story was almost two hundred miles away in Sendai.

He glanced at the clock, it was five-thirty in the afternoon… did she work tonight? Suddenly he had the urge to punch himself. No. He wanted to give her time to herself.

_But she wants to be a doctor, you all need medical treatment. You can't deny that_. A small voice said.

Kento stood with a grunt, he was sore but otherwise unharmed, "Sage do you think your sister would be willing to come over here, tomorrow?" At the look he quickly added, "Yayoi not Satsuki."

_Great minds think alike_.

_Dude I picked it out of your brain_.

Sage shook his head, he figured this might come up at one point or the other, "I don't think she even knows. Neither of my sisters knew about the armor last time and the only members of my family I told about the armors now are my parents and grandparents. Satsuki figured something was up and Rachel had to fill her in." He crossed his arms flinching, "And honestly telling my older sister about all this is _not_ a conversation I want to have."

He held a hand up, "Okay, okay, just a thought." The Chinese man knew Sage had a strained relationship with his older sister he just didn't know it might be that bad.

Cye thought for a moment, "I think Ryo and I should go to the hospital. I appreciate what you did Kento, please don't get me wr-"

"No I whole heartedly agree," Kento admitted, "But what could we say that they'd believe? We can't just say a dog bit you."

"I have a tool that I use sometimes when I put designs in my sculpting called an x-acto knife. They're sharp as hell and I've known a few people who've cut themselves to the bone. I could easily say I was careless with it."

Rowen looked at him, "Okay I can see the logic in that lie-but-what's Ryo going to say? Got in a fight with White Blaze?"

Both parties in question looked downright offended. "Look take Cye to the hospital for now and when I manage to come up with something I'll go. If it was warmer weather I could probably use a hiking accident line but the snows set in early out there this year. Getting out there is a challenge as it is." He quickly added, "And I promise I will see a doctor."

That seemed to satisfy his friends and Kento was the first to speak, "Alright then I'll take Cye to the hospital now. Anyone else coming?"

"I'll stay behind, it might look strange if I show up there so soon after my last visit."

"I'll go," Rowen stood and pulled his shirt back down, "But they aren't looking at me."

"I don't think they need to really," Sage looked at his friend, "Sileny was right the wounds don't look that bad you just must have bleed a lot."

"Like a stuck pig as the saying goes, it's why I've felt a little dizzy since then."

Cye looked from Ryo to Sage, "I might end up being there until late depending on what they need to do. You two can stay here if you want."

Ryo shook his head, "I think I'll head home so my neighbors think I'm alive."

"Mind if I tag along with you?" Sage looked at him.

"That's fine."

* * *

Standing in his apartment felt strange after all the time he'd spent at Cye and Kento's place. At the same time it felt good to be home. The air was a bit stale and it was cool in the rooms; though the heavy feelings where not there.

Ryo sat on the sofa in his living room, absently rubbing his injured arm, his friend sat beside him, White Blazed curled up at their feet.

"I haven't been here that much," the blonde said absently.

"You're free to look around."

"I want to talk with you something in all seriousness." Tiger blue eyes looked at him, "Let me finish before you say something. The guys and I got the impression you did not want anyone to mention calling Rachel or even Sileny. Now I can guess why, you don't want to depend on them too much and let them see what happened, but I had to stop Kento and Rowen from suggesting it."

Ryo listened and gave a nod, "Pretty much. But there is a little more to it."

"Go on."

"It's not just that I don't want to become dependent on them. Honestly after the hound was gone I wanted to call Rachel, but it was three in the afternoon so she would have still been in school. How would that have looked? Also Rachel and Sileny might be our friends, that doesn't mean we have to drag them through all of this with us."

Sage nodded, "I agree." He was quiet for a long time, trying carefully to pick his next words, "Do you think we should cut ties with them? Until this is over I mean."

The Ronin leader shrugged, "I don't know. It would probably be a good idea and I'm sure they would understand, but I really don't know if we could." He looked at his friend, "Rachel's played doctor for us, and not just with this round of battles. Sileny's given us information on the creatures we've faced, true she had to look for the name of the last thing but she did leave a message when she found it."

He couldn't argue with him there.

"The other reason I didn't want Rachel or even Sileny called over…" He began slowly, "It's a school day and for all we know they both work tonight. They have lives outside of us."

Sage understood what he was saying. His friend didn't want to be a bother.


	18. Chapter 18

**N/A:** Another 2 chapter update! I must be on a roll. :( Sad for no new reviews. My goal is to finish this story before fall, so wish me luck.

* * *

**Power**

Chapter 18

* * *

She had watched the fight from the glass orbs that dangled from the roof of her chambers. Taking note of each attack and counter attack, and in this she had found a new answer to the problem with their strategy. "This whole time we really have been going about this the wrong way."

Through the shadows one of the hounds who had survived limped in and stopped on a large silver plate. The hound disintegrated and five droplets of blood landed on the plate.

"Perfect," Marijke knelt down and looked at the spoils of this fight. "At least something went right." The hounds may have failed to take the armors but they had succeeded in another perhaps more profitable way. "My plan will still work I'll just need to alter a few minor things." A smirk played on her lips.

She traced three symbols engraved in the silver and watched as the blood was individually gathered in small vials. "In the meantime let me see the things you boys desire most and what your deepest fears are." Picking up one of the vials she couldn't help but feel giddy.

He was in the center of a thick forest, it was dark and he could hardly see in front of him. He wore his old armor and held both swords in his hands with no effort. Fog began to roll in all around him and there was a sinking feeling in his gut.

"Ryo!"

He knew that voice, "Luna!" he knew from her tone that she was afraid. "Luna where are you?!"

"Help!"

Ryo spun on a time and took off in the direction of her voice. The shadows reached out for him, but he easily passed them by.

"Ryo!"

He stopped when he came to a cabin. No wait that his home yet… he burst through the front door and there she was. His insides sank like a brick when he saw what held her.

The Inferno Armor held the young girl close to it, one sword pointed at her throat. Her eyes mirrored his fear, "Ryo…"

Tightening his grip on his sword he glared at the armor, "Let her go!"

The armor tilted its helmet and the room was suddenly on fire.

Ryo could hardly see through the blinding lights and the smoke, he could hear Luna coughing and calling to him but he could see her anymore. Just as suddenly as it came the fire was then gone, and he saw her on the floor in a puddle of blood. And the Inferno Armor was nowhere to be seen.

His eyes grew wide, "Luna!" He ran for her, knelt down and scooper her into his arm. Only it wasn't Luna anymore.

Ryo froze as he gazed down at her, hair sticking her neck and her blood clotting in her shirt and dripping down onto the fabric of his new armor, staining the meal and his haori. She felt light as a feather and colder than ice. Worst of all she wasn't breathing.

He reaches his hand out and touched her face, "Rachel? Rachel!" He shook her lightly, "Rachel!"

There was laughter around him. A mocking laughter.

Ryo sat up in bed gasping for breath and covered in a thick lay of sweat. It took him a few minutes to register where he was. Back in his bedroom at his apartment. He let out a sigh and put his hand on his face. "A nightmare. Just a nightmare."

Even after he caught his breath he could still feel himself shaking. Luna was dead, and her face had haunted him for a long time now. Yet seeing Rachel there dead in his arms… He closed his eyes tightly still the image wouldn't leave his mind.

"Just a nightmare," he repeated. He could feel White Blaze nudging his arm, "I'm okay…" Ryo reached out and stroked the tigers head. No he wasn't okay. "It was just a nightmare."

White Blaze hadn't seen him this disturbed by a nightmare in a long time. He put his paws on the bed and leaned forward to nuzzle the human's head.

"Thanks," reaching up absently he began to pet his friend. Opening his eyes he glanced at the clock, his alarm would go off in five minutes. "Might as well get up." He winced and looked at his injured arm."…"

* * *

"Am I half asleep or are you seriously in the kitchen brewing coffee?"

"I'm _seriously_ in the kitchen brewing coffee."

Sage stared at him, "You not sleep well either?"

"I didn't sleep at all," his roommate admitted, "I read that passage about the basilisk that Sileny talked about; then I read the whole damn book." He pulled two mugs out of the cupboard, "The one time I did manage to doze off…"

"Nightmare."

"You too?"

He nodded and pulled the milk from the fridge, "I haven't had a real nightmare like that for a long time."

"The last time we both had a nightmare was…" he thought, "Almost four years ago now."

"Gods it feels longer than that." Sage ran his fingers through his hair, "Four years ago when we fought Talpa and thought we might all die."

Rowen nodded, "So you tell me yours I tell you mine?"

"I'd really rather not talk about it."

"Okay." In truth he didn't either, it was just the right thing to ask.

* * *

He sat on the sofa with his leg propped up, a little more than irritated and way past being tired. Cye wasn't one to really sit around and do nothing still he was under doctors' orders to rest his leg for a few days. How long that would really last was anyone's guess.

Thanks to the pain in his leg, and the drugs they gave him not working, he had been up all night without any sleep at all. Not for the lack of trying he just couldn't sleep. Every time he had closed his eyes and tried to sleep he would see things that he didn't like or want to see. Since about six this morning he had been in the living room watching the news with the volume down low enough that he could hear it but Kento could still sleep.

Cye was starting to nod off when he heard the alarm in the other bedroom go off. _God _

"You're up?" Kento asked before making his way into the living room.

"I never went to sleep," he admitted, "And it wasn't for lack of trying. No matter how many times I tried to sleep it just wouldn't happen."

"Maybe you slept too much already?" His friend offered with a shrug. "If it makes you feel better I didn't sleep well either."

"Doesn't really make me feel better, no. I've heard you tossing and turning the last few hours."

"Nightmare from hell," The younger boy walked into the kitchen and took out a tea kettle, "How you feelin' today?"

"Exhausted. My leg doesn't hurt as bad as it did yesterday, which is the only good thing right now." Cye watched his friend with a worried expression. "You want to talk about the nightmare?"

He set the tea kettle on the stove and turned it on, "Not really. I'd rather get it out of my mind."

"Alright." He paused and shifted comfortably, "How are your wounds?"

"They're fine, I don't really even feel any pain anymore. Just stiffness." The Chinese man set out two teacups, "Our armors don't protect us as well as the last ones, however I think we are healing faster."

"I agree with that," Cye nodded.

* * *

Whatever Ryo had dreamed about had bothered him so badly that he hadn't left the house that day. It worried the tiger and his human needed to go see a doctor yet he hadn't budged from the house. The black-haired boy hadn't called any of his friends all day, which given what just happened was a bad sign.

Something in that dream shook him.

White Blaze waiting out in the yard for his target. It felt strange sitting out there after so long, usually he waited on the ground in view though today the tree felt like a better spot. Here he was at least out of the sight for passersby as he waited.

Yes, it was unusual to see a tiger in this country. A fairly domesticated one even, which he fully admitted to, waiting patiently for a human. Still no one likes being stared at for long periods of time, commodity or not.

The loud ringing sound filled the air and all at once he was on alert. His brown eyes watched the young humans file out of the building, groups splitting off and heading their separate ways. Eyes darted across the crowed and his nostrils flared trying to find the person he sought out. He stood on the branch and saw who he was looking for.

Gracefully he leapt down from the tree, scaring a few of the humans around him; trotting towards her he gave a soft roar.

She stopped with a group of girls, turning to his direction and obviously surprised, "White Blaze?"

"Isn't that the tiger that Ryo owns?" Someone next to her asked, backing up.

Satsuki was the only one he recognized, "What's he doing here?" She looked at Rachel then whispered, "Did something happen?"

"I don't know," she watched him stop next to her, "What are you doing here?"

White Blaze took hold of Rachel's jacket sleeve and began to pull her from the others.

"Hey!" Rachel stumbled a little as the tiger began to lead her away.

"Rachel? What are you doing?" The strange girl asked watching with a mix of awe and horror on her face.

"I'm being dragged off!" She began to walk with the tiger who wouldn't let go of her jacket, "White Blaze where are you taking me?" the auburn haired girl asked when they got off the school grounds.

* * *

She was standing at the door, with the sleeve of her jacket in White Blaze's mouth, and out of breath. "Is there a reason he brought me here?"

He wanted to tell her no. However, lying wasn't something he'd ever been good at and there wasn't any point when the answer was in clear view. Sighing the black-haired boy looked at his arm then away, trying to hide his annoyance with his tiger.

"What happened?" She asked in a whisper.

Ryo stepped aside and let her into the apartment, "I got bit well… cut really." He walked into the living room and sat down.

The girl slipped out of her shoes and set her bag down beside them, "Was this last night?"

"Two days ago."

"Wha… Why didn't you call? Are others okay?" She was sitting next to him.

"Sage had a minor cut on his arm and Rowen's bite wound reopened," he really didn't want to tell her this, "Cye's thigh was stabbed about an inch into him. He was able to come up with a cleaver excuse and went to the doctor, something about an x-acto knife slipping whatever that is. Anyways he's fine now just limping a bit."

"It's a really small and sharp knife artist's use, Sileny has a few and she's cut herself more than once." She looked at him. "I'm glad he got his leg treated that could have been really bad especially after what just happened."

Ryo nodded.

"And… your arm? Did you see a doctor?"

"No…" He admitted.

"Ryo."

He caved in then and told her everything that had happened with the hounds. Flexing his arm he lifted it up, "Kento's really the only one who didn't get hurt. So he ended up playing nurse for Cye and I while Sage re-wrapped Rowen's wound. Once we got as fixed up as we could, we took Cye to the hospital."

"Let me see your arm."

"Rachel I'm fi-"

"_Now_."

Slowly he turned to look at her. She was glaring at him in a way no one else had before. Anger and sadness clear in those big eyes. Reluctantly he reached his arm out for her.

Her hands felt cold as she started unwrapping his bloody bandages until she saw the wound. Carefully she lifted his arm up and bent it to get a good look, "Ryo this went deep, you're lucky as hell that it isn't infected. Don't get me wrong this doesn't look good it looks…"

"Angry," he said.

She nodded, "Did this go to the bone?"

"No but I think it came close," he winced and hissed when she touched it without warning.

"Es tut mir leid," She spoke in her native language.

Ryo had only heard her speak a handful of German since they had met. It was a strange language to him yet she spoke it as beautifully as Mia would speak French. "What does that mean?"

"It basically mean I'm sorry," she looked at him, "Kento bandaged this?"

He nodded.

"When you see him next tell him I said he did a good job," Rachel gave him a small smile.

"I'll do that," He answered in a quiet voice.

She pulled him up from the sofa and headed into the bathroom. Letting go of his hand she reached over and turned the water on, the water running on her hand until she found it warm enough. Plugging the sink and allowing it to fill, she took the wash cloth from the wall.

He watched her knowing what she was doing; while he didn't think it need to be cleaned again, she clearly did. Not that he was about to argue with her.

"Do you have any bandages left?"

"Just enough for now," he answered, "Under the sink."

Rachel nodded and turned off the water. She soaked the wash cloth in the hot water and looked up at him.

Ryo held his arm out for her and took in a sharp breath as she began to clean it. She wasn't being nearly as gentle as Kento had been, but she was being more thuro. His eyes fixated on her hand as she washed the dry blood off his skin, and he was worried that he might start bleeding again.

He didn't.

Rachel pulled the plug when she was done, "I'm not being too rough am I?"

"No. You're not really being gentle though," he admitted.

"Guess I need more practice," she was careful this time as she took a dry towel to his arm, "I won't be a good pediatrician unless I learn to have soft hands, will I?"

"You'll be a great pediatrician," He looked at her, "I'm just a bad patient."

She smiled, "Thanks." Kneeling down she opened the cupboard under the sink.

Ryo looked closer at his arm, it really didn't look as bad now, "This will leave a mark," it was more a statement than a question.

"I would be surprised if it didn't," Standing back up and set the gauze on the sink. Turning to him she put both of her hands on both his arms now, one over the injury and the other in the same spot on his other arm.

Her hands felt warm now against his skin, "What are you doing?"

"Can you open and close your hands a few times for me?" Sky blue eyes fixed on the injured arm. "I want to compare the feel of the muscles."

The Ronin of Wildfire arched his eyebrow yet still complied with her request.

"I think you'll be alright," letting go of his good arm she picked the gauze up and began dressing the wound.

They stood together like that silent for a while as she fixed him up, Ryo watching her hands the whole time. "Thank you, Rachel."

She looked up at him, "You're welcome."


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Single chapter update guys. Sorry about the wait this damn thing just would not let me write it in anyway that would make complete sense so I apologize or that in advance. I'll toss you guys a cookie there by saying the shiz is going to hit the fan from this point out, everything to this chapter was a warm up. Please R&R, reviews help me to know what I do right and what I need to improve.

* * *

**Power**

Chapter Nineteen

Marijke stood, "In their battle worn state it shouldn't take long. The process has already started and in this case we won't be harming their bodies or armor. Had I found out about the truth of their power sooner we would have won long ago."

Haytie nodded once, "While I am far from pleased that this is taking so long, it has shown me their power. This power is still young once I have it in my halls we can move on to the next item for my collection. These five, however, shall be prized pieces." He leaned back on his throne, "Tell me what will be done with their allies? The two mortal girls pose no threat, yet their four companions with armor could become annoying if they find out."

"Ekin has already begun distracting them, my lord. Her plan should cause them enough trouble that they won't even know their comrades are missing until it's too late."

"This pleases me." He stood, "I shall see they will be put on proper display as befit them. Keep me posted on the progress."

"As you wish." She turned and walked from the room. The sound of her heels echoed off the walls of the long marble hallway.

The palace at this end was quiet but that wouldn't last very long. Soon the sounds would fill the halls again of the new additions of the collection. And then they would head off to find something else to add to it until they had collected everything.

Then what?

They still had many things to find she had little doubt about that, there were even something's they had found that they just couldn't get to yet.

Rounding the corner she passed many fine jewels and statues on display behind glass that shun like the sea in the middle of the day. Statues of gods long forgotten and jewels from lands she couldn't pronounce. The displays stopped right beside her chambers. She opened the double doors and stepped inside.

Walking to the table in the center of her chambers she found the five vials all neat in a row. She smiled and watched the colors on the glass change, "This is what they fear most? A power long gone? Well there's nothing I can do with that. But there is plenty I can do with those desires."

Marijke lifted up one of the vials, "The only question is where to start? Each one of these boys has such a simple rang of desires. Why is it that humans only want truly simple things at heart? So boring."

On the wall of her chamber a small mirror began to glow.

The vampire smirked, "Good Ekin has been successful. Now with the cavalry occupied there's just two others we'll need to keep distracted." She set the vile down and stood up, "I really wish we had found out about this sooner it would have saved some labor. At least the master got to have a better show this time before leaving."

She walked into a smaller room and put her hands on a bird cage, "My little birds we have a job to do."

* * *

Two weeks had passed by.

Two weeks and nothing had happened.

The Ronin of Hardrock would usually be heavy on edge after so long without an attack when they could still feel the enemy. All he really felt right now was the same he had felt the last three days; exhausted.

He couldn't really figure out a reason for it either. It wasn't the usual exhaustion that took him over after a hard battle, he was good friends with that kind. No this was different his body felt heavy as though something was weighing down on it. Since yesterday he felt like he was walking through a thick fog bank with a ball and chain dragging his feet.

_Yeah that's the best way to describe it_, he told himself.

"Well you don't have a fever," His mother announced looking from the thermometer to him, "You sure there isn't something going on I need to know about?"

"Ma I already told you, that's being taken care of. I don't know what's wrong with me right now."

She frowned, "Well go upstairs and rest or go home and look after yourself."

"I've hardly worked at all the last few weeks, you guys need help and besides-"

"I was going to have you train the new girl, yes, however given your condition-whatever it is-you had best not do it. It's a slow night so don't feel bad, you can make up the rest of the shift later. I can look after the new girl until then, it shouldn't be that hard her resume was impressive."

"I'm really sorry."

Kento's mother shook her head and smiled, "Don't apologize, I know there are things you have to do that we don't have control over. Just please take care of yourself."

"I try Ma," He offered a smile hoping it was more reassuring than tired. "I'll go home and rest up then take over training our newbie tomorrow."

His mother gave a nod, "Let us know when you get home."

"Will do. I promise."

* * *

Setting the towel down, he looked at his reflection in the mirror. Damp hair was sticking to his neck and a few stray beads of water ran down his chest. Still with everything he had been through he thought he looked surprisingly good. Cye turned slightly to look at the scaring on his lower back.

To say the scar that creature had left was ugly was being kind. He had no idea how he was going to explain this away to his mother and sister. Really he should just tell them the truth though the chances of that going over well didn't exist. At least his thigh was healing better and that would be much easier to hide.

"Ah shit," He reached out and gripped the sink for support when the room began to spin again. _Shouldn't this be done by now_? These feelings of dizziness, fatigue, and that strange heavy feeling had been coming and going for two days. Today they had been almost constant.

"I'll call Sekhmet in the morning," he told himself, "If he's busy then I'll have to ask Rachel." He didn't really want her help like this but if Ryo could do it…

The Ronin of Torrent shook his head. _No. Don't think that way it wasn't Ryo's idea_.

He had to put both hands out on the sink now, the spinning was getting worse and now that weird heavy feeling was back.

"What in the hell is wrong with me?"

* * *

The Ronin of Halo had to sit down. His body felt strange and it felt like he had walked through a dream to get back into the apartment just from getting the mail. This had never happened before. In a way it felt like something was clinging to him, trying to drag him down or jus sucking all his strength out of him.

For three days this had gone one and over the last two days he could not find a way to explain it. This just kept getting worse too. Whatever was going on with him it didn't feel normal.

Violet eyes looked over to the bedroom closest to him, he saw Rowen on the bed, like he had just sat down then laid back. "Rowen?" He asked. "Are you asleep?"

Sage began to worry when he didn't get an answer. There was also the feeling like someone was trying to tell him something…

* * *

He had heard Sage both times. Rowen wanted to answer; he tried to answer. However his body would not move. No matter how hard he tried to make himself do something nothing would happen. His chest was the only thing moving and that was just because he was breathing.

After Sage had left to get the mail, he sat down because he felt funny. Next thing he knew he was laying back on the bed, eyes closed and unable to move. Not even his eyes would open or move under his eyelids.

The Ronin of Strata began to feel like something was wrapping itself around him, cold and icy. Followed by an unwelcome lull of sleep.

* * *

The tiger stood over the body of his master, growling fiercely at the intruders.

A smirk played on her face, "You truly never change, yokai. Always so protective of mortals."

_You will not lay a hand on him_!

"I have to or else there's no real way to take him to his new home." Marijke's eyes seemed to sparkle in the darkness of the room. "You can either stand aside or I'll have to deal with you very harshly."

White Blaze stood his ground.

"My dear sweetlings,"she glanced at the birds, "Remove that over grown house cat."


	20. Chapter 20

**Power**

Chapter Twenty

* * *

Ryo's body wouldn't move. No matter how hard he tried, nothing would move. There was still feeling in his body even if it wouldn't move. He knew something was carrying him and at one point his sub armor formed around him. Although he could hear voices he couldn't make out what was being said.

_Why can't I move_?

Who or whatever was carrying him set him down on something, probably a chair, and position him back against some kind of board. Ryo heard what he knew was a match lighting then the sizzling sound of a wick catching fire. There were footsteps followed by the heavy smell of something in the air that reminded him of the incense at a temple.

This time he did hear a voice clearly. A male voice, "It took longer to get you here than I had originally thought. Lucky for us all I am a patient man." He could hear the smile in the words, "Now I have what I came for while you five have a new home."

Ryo's heart began to race as he heard footsteps walking away from him and the sound of a heavy door close.

_Guys! Can anyone hear me_?!

* * *

Sileny closed her eyes and leaned back into the chair. This was turning into a day from hell. Her manager wouldn't hire Rachel since they already had a German speaker. No she just got doe being chewed out over the phone for an hour and a half

I don't get paid enough for this shit!

The phone rang again, she cursed loudly in Swedish until she saw the number. Leaning forward se picked up the phone, "I hope you're having a better day than I am."

"_My day's been pretty bad_," Rachel replied, "_What time are you off again_?"

"In an hour, why?"

"_Will you stop at the store to get us some dinner on your way home? We don't have anything here_."

"Yeah I can do that, what sounds good?"

"_Something easy_." She paused, "_Hey have you heard from the guys at all_?"

"No, and I doubt Rowen will be here when I get off. After what Ryo told you happened I wouldn't be surprised if they dropped out on us until after this is over."

Rachel was silent on the other end of the line, "_I hope they don't leave us hanging too long_."

"Why don't we call them tomorrow just to check if they are still alive?"

"_Okay_."

Azure blue eyes glanced up, "I better go my supervisor is heading this way with that look on her face."

"I'll see you when you get home, Sileny. Bye."

"Adjo,*" Sileny ended the call just as her supervisor stopped beside her desk. She looked up at the woman, why this lady worked here was anyone's guess, she didn't really have a tolerance for foreigners. "Yes?"

"Svenson, there is someone at the front desk asking for you," she crossed her arms, "He said it is urgent. I don't know why you think it's okay to have random men show up here and while Takashi might put up with it I won't."

"My friends know I work here and to only call me out if it's really an emergency." She stood up, "If it was really such an issue then you could have told him to wait. Bossing us around like this just because we aren't like you is a poor reflection on yourself and your country." Sileny strode past the gaping supervisor and headed to the front.

_Rowen you better have a **damn** __**good**__ reason for this_, She thought to herself. When she turned to the front desk she stopped, "Cale? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Sileny have you heard from Ryo or his friends recently?"

"Not for almost three weeks now, last I heard they were having trouble with a dog." She glanced around for her co-workers, but they were alone, "Has something happened?"

"We think something might have happened," He looked at her with urgency in his eyes, "How much longer do you need to be here?"

"About an hour," She answered, "Rachel's home if-"

"Dais is going to see her," The warlord interrupted, "I'll wait outside for you."

"Wait for me? What for?"

"You and Rachel know where they live and have keys to get into their places right? We want to go with you."

"What do you think they've been…" She trailed off.

"I think it's possible given what just happened in the Neather Realm."

* * *

"That kitsune escaped?" Rachel repeated gaping at the white-haired warrior.

He nodded, "We did finally catch her again but it took a lot longer than it should have. And it's almost like she let us recapture her."

The young girl sat down on the sofa, "How did she escape? I thought you guys said you had it under control?"

"I've no clue how she freed herself," he admitted, "But after we took her to a stronger cell we kept getting a strange feeling. That's the only way I can describe it and Kayura keeps thinking something has happened to the Ronin." He leaned forward, "Rachel you are very close to them. Do you know if anything has happened?"

She gripped the cushion, "The last thing I heard about was with those hell hounds. That was about two weeks ago."

Dais frowned and nodded, "We were briefly told about that. You treated their injuries right?"

"I didn't treat them. I only cleaned Ryo's wound before I dragged him to a real doctor," She admitted.

"But you are a doctor."

"Not yet I'm not, things are different now Dais. I have to get schooling and a license before I can really be a doctor."

"Yet another reason why I do not understand things in this new world." He leaned back, "Cale went to fetch Sileny from her job."

"She won't be able to leave for forty five minutes. Can you please tell me exactly what happened with the kitsune?"

He nodded once, "Alright. Somehow she escaped from her cell and went on a killing spree in the dungeon. This is the first time anyone can recall this sort of thing happening and all our prisoners are dead now thanks to her, while that might sound like a good thing it could backlash on us. Sekhmet, Cale, Kayura and I were told about her escape about two hours after it happened by the looks of things. She went running rampage through the inner city, killing solders and destroying buildings until we managed to catch up with her near the harbor.

"She would not go into the water and jumped onto one of the boats. We were able to surround her and take her captive again after a few arrows shot into her legs. Now we are just trying to decide how to kill her."

Rachel nodded, "At least you guys caught her." She reached out and began to pet Black Blaze who was her silent shadow the whole time.

"Indeed… but during that time something felt off. Kayura keeps thinking something has happened to the Ronin."

The young girl froze and the tiger by her side gave a low growl. "And you guys came to see us because we are their friends."

"You are their friends, yes, perhaps more for all we know," he paused when the girl shook her head, "Just friends then. But we tried everything we knew, they are not even responding to the shards we have given them."

She looked over to the table by the door and the keys sitting there, "We both have keys to their apartments, and they have keys to our home. I guess we can go there…" Rachel stood, "Let me call Satsuki, she's Sage's little sister maybe she heard something?"

Dais nodded.

The young girl walked across the room and picked the phone up then began dialing the number. _Please know something_.

"_Hello_?"

"Satsuki? It's Rachel."

"_Hey! How's the job hunting going_?"

"I'll tell you later, right now I was wondering if you've heard from your brother?"

There was a long pause, "_…You haven't heard from him either_?"

* * *

"Satsuki hasn't heard anything either?" Sileny looked at her friend, "And she really acted like that was normal?"

"Well she did say this wasn't the first time he dropped contact with her," Rachel replied as they got off the train with her friends. "How many months did Sage and the others drop off the planet while they fought Talapia I mean Talpo."

Dais was fighting back his laugher, "You mean Talpa," he corrected.

Cale on the other hand was in stitches.

She nodded a bit while staring at Cale, she'd never seen him laugh like that.

The white haired man finally composed himself, "The Ronin were our enemies for a little over a year in total. What they did between fighting us is anyone's guess."

"It's been a little over a month since all this started," Sileny said as they came to a stoplight. "Honestly I wouldn't find it too surprising if something happened."

"Sileny!"

"Rachel they're my friends too, that doesn't change the fact that they don't have the best track record when it comes to not being captured."

The younger girl shifted her weight, wishing she could argue.

"Let's hope that really isn't the case," the blue haired warrior looked at him, "A rescue mission wouldn't be easy since we have no idea where they are."

"Who's house are we going to first, anyways? No one answered their telephones."

"Ryo's apartment is the closes place to us," Rachel answered looking at the older Warlord. "From there we can go to Cye and Kento's place then to where Sage and Rowen live."

Both men nodded.

"That building over there is where Ryo lives," Sileny pointed.

"White Blaze lives with him?" The younger of the two men asked as they began walking again.

"Yes he does."

The group was silent the rest of the way from the train station to the lobby of the apartment building. Rachel was recognized by the lady at the apartment counter and she was happy to let them inside.

When they got into the elevator Cale looked at her, "Rachel how often do you come here?"

"I know her from the tea shop Cale, she went there a lot," She knew where this might be going and quickly added, "I've maybe been to his apartment three times since he moved in." The elevator stopped and Rachel led the way out and down the hallway, she took a deep breath before stopping at the door.

Sileny knocked on the door while her friend looked or her keys, "Ryo? Are you home?"

No answer. They didn't even hear movement inside.

The younger girl took out the key and unlocked the door, "Ryo?" She opened the door.

"Holy shit," Dais stepped into the apartment first. Everything was trashed, the sofa was turned over, broken dishes lay in the kitchen, and there were claw marks on the wall.

Rachel felt like the bottom of her stomach just gave out.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: **Hey look two chapters! That makes three chapters this month! Please R&R.

* * *

**Power**

Chapter Twenty One

* * *

Rachel sat at the desk in her room, school books for her final exams on one side while her blank sheet of paper sat there in front of her. Mocking her for the distraction that plagued her mind.

"Where are they?" She asked the paper and pen as if they would give her an answer. A part of her wanted to cry, to scream, to hit something. A month had passed by since they had gone missing… no they had been captured. That was more than obvious by now.

She groaned and put her head on her desk. _I can't focus! Where are you guys_?!

The tiger beside her stirred and looked up at her. He could tell she was tired and furious. _It's times like this I wish I could talk to you, little cub_. Black Blaze stood and nudged his head against her arm.

Rachel turned her head and looked down at him, "What should we do?" She stroked the top of his head, "I want them back."

Golden eyes looked back at her, he moved back and licked her hand softly. He knew it would comfort her.

She saw him go still abruptly and watched his nose flair. "Black Blaze?" Rachel sat up straight.

_Is that…_? He turned on a dime and darted from the room.

"Hey! Wait!" The girl stood up and chased after him. "Black Blaze!"

He leapt down the light of stairs, rounded the corner and skidded into the kitchen.

"What the hell?" Sileny looked up from her spot on the sofa.

Rachel ran down the stairs, "Black Blaze what on earth has you…" She trailed off when she entered the kitchen and saw the sight out the sliding glass door. "White Blaze!"

"What?!" Sileny flew into the kitchen and stared at the sight in the backyard. "Oh my gods!" She ran forward and opened the door.

Black Blaze ran out ahead of them, stopping beside the mass of white and red fur. _Byakuen_! He nudged at the tiger's head.

Rachel skidded and nearly fell down beside him, "He's covered in blood."

"How did he get here?" Sileny knelt down and carefully lifted the head up. "He's breathing," She said.

White Blaze found the strength to open his eyes and was never so happy to see a human or smell Black Blaze's scent in his long life. _I made it..._ he tried to lift his head on his own, to stand, to sit even, but his body refused to move.

"White Blaze," Sileny was not an emotional girl still it was all she could do not to cry.

Rachel moved around to look at him, her sky blue eyes wide as ever, she kept her hand on his fur and began to pet him softly. "Blaze what happened to you?"

White Blaze partly closed his eyes at the soft touch and in hailed deeply, enjoying the smells of the yard and the humans next to him. He managed a soft grunt and opened his mouth, licking Sileny's arm softly. The tiger could feel Black Blaze trying to clean the clotted blood off his shoulder.

_How did you escape_? Black Blaze asked.

_I don't remember_, Was his answer, _They've all been taken_… he growled and closed his eyes when a sudden rush of pain filled him.

Sileny looked at the younger girl, "Go call Cale and tell him to get his ass over here."

Rachel stood, "I'll get some hot water and towels, and the wraps," she ran back into the house.

The older girl gently put the head of the tiger on her lap, it took up almost her whole lap plus a little extra, but his head wasn't as large as Black Blaze's head. She moved one of her hands and found blood on it, when she leaned around she saw blood on his jaw.

_If White Blaze is hurt this badly_… her stomach began to do summersaults when she started to think what might be happening to her other friends. She heard the footsteps behind her and turned, expecting to see Rachel but was surprised to see Kayura landing on the ground beside her, staring at the mass of fur and blood.

"What… when?"

"We don't know the what," Sileny looked at her, "As for the when he's been out here maybe five or ten minutes."

Kayura reached out and touched the blood stained fur, "My gods…"

White Blaze opened his eyes and looked at the blue-haired girl, _Kayura_.

She looked at him, _I can hear you White Blaze_. She saw the joy and relief in his eyes. _Can you tell me what happened_?

_They have all five of them_. He confirmed and began to tell her everything that happened during the capture, leaving nothing out. Where he found the strength to talk he couldn't say. It didn't take as long as he thought it would have, by the time he was done the blood had been washed off him by Black Blaze and Rachel.

"Do you think we can move him?" Rachel asked looking at the black tiger.

He nodded and turned his head to Kayura, _If we are careful we should take him to the living room, it's the warmest place in the house_.

"I can hear them talking in my head," Kayura finally said to her two friends, "I'll tell you what White Blaze told me in a minute. Black Blaze say's we can move him if we are careful and we should take him into the living room since it's warm. Once we do that then I'll tell you what he told me."

Moving the 500 plus pound tiger had taken nearly a half hour between the three of them. None of the girls were really strong and it would have been much easier with another person, or three. Black Blaze had stayed out of their way the whole time, he couldn't have helped move the other tiger no matter how much he wanted.

When they finally got into the living room they helped White Blaze onto the sofa by the window, Rachel had put a pillow under the tigers head for support. Black Blaze had taken a blanket from the clean laundry and bought it over.

Sileny put the large blanket over the injured tiger, it was a thick blanket her grandmother had sent her from Sweden for her birthday last year.

"That's a pretty blanket," Kayura broke the silence.

"Thanks," Sileny looked at her, "It's the warmest one in the house."

"What did White Blaze tell you?" Rachel asked.

Before she could answer the doorbell rang, "That's Dais, Cale, and Sekhmet."

"It's unlocked!" Rachel shouted.

They came in and saw the tiger on the sofa. It was Cale who spoke first, "It takes a dying tiger to get you out of your room?" He looked at Kayura.

"He is not dying!" She glared swords at him, "He's been beaten by that vampire bitch and a pack of hellhounds. They didn't try to kill him, just to torture him."

Cale stared at her saying nothing, the surprise on his face spoke for him.

Dais strode past him and walked round to the tiger on the sofa, ignoring the soft rumbles that came from the other tiger. "How did he get here?"

"We don't know," Rachel said, "He was just in the back yard all of the sudden covered in blood."

Sekhmet studied the scene, "Kayura how do you know he isn't dying?"

"I can hear him and Black Blaze talking," she explained, "It's like when the four of us talk and don't want the others to hear us. He told me what they did to him," her face darkened. "He's also told me about the guys."

Rachel sat on the floor beside the white tiger, she began to pet his head softly, "What did he say?"

White Blaze made his eyes stay open, enjoying the gentle touch from the young girl. All this comfort felt good and it was luring him to sleep, which he needed desperately. But he wanted to stay awake at least long enough for Kayura to relay the story, correct her or add in where he could. This would be hard.

Kayura sat down on the other sofa, "They have been captured like we suspected," she began, "Haytie took them alive and he's keeping them alive somehow but unable to move. Probably the same way Talpa did once that brief moment when he had all the armors right where he wanted them."

Cale sat beside her, "Why would he keep them alive when he wanted their armors so badly?"

"Because the armors only enhance the power; Ryo, Sage, Cye, Kento, and Rowen are the power that brought Haytie here in the first place. He just now realized it. And he can't take the armors away from them, it's become a part of them and their powers if he had taken the armors from them by force like he was trying it would kill them."

"So he took them alive," Sekhmet crossed his arms, "And what he plans to keep them in a... what's the word?" He thought.

Sileny answered, "I think the term you want is suspended animation."

"Yes, thank you Sileny, suspended animation is what he plans to keep them in until the ends of time?"

Kayura nodded, "Haytie is a collector of powerful thing. He goes all over the world looking for powerful creatures and object and collects them the way a person collects dolls or stamps. Without a care for what he does to the people who need these object for protection, or the chaos it might bring. White Blaze said he was here once before that he knows of and took the cloth that once covered the three sacred treasures. He also got the treasures too, but the seals protecting them is still too strong and gets stronger as the centuries pass."

"He's been here before?" Dais found that interesting, "Must have just been that one time we found out about in the records."

Black Blaze gave a nod and looked at Kayura.

She stared at him then turned to the men, "Black Blaze says that both he and Saber Strike fought against Haytie's forces. It was several centuries ago, before the Sengoku. None of us had been born yet."

Sekhmet took a seat on the floor beside Rachel, "He met no other opposition?"

Blue eyes looked at the tiger, "No he did meet opposition. A group of young warriors and some good yokai stood against him. Saber Strike had to pull out of the fight early for personal reasons, and was the only real survivor. One other lived through the bloody war but…" she trailed off, "He hung himself in Aokigahara out of shame because he lost the woman he loved in the fighting."

"How…" Rachel looked at the ground then from the tiger to the ancient, "How did he capture our friends?"

Kayura had known this would be the hard part, she would have to leave out a few things for the sakes of her two girlfriends. White Blaze told her about Ryo's nightmare and that was the last thing she was going to convey. "Marijke found a way to use a sleep spell on them with their blood that she collected when the hell hounds attacked them. She was also using the same spell to give them nightmares about the people they loved dying at the hands of a ghost."

"What ghost?" Cale asked, though he had a sneaking suspicion.

"Inferno."

"Wait a minute," Sileny spoke out, "I thought they couldn't create that berserking thing again?"

"They can't," Kayura nodded, "Inferno was an act of desperation and the merging of armors that had been one once before. Yes that child forged them new armors to create a new Inferno but both White Blaze and Black Blaze don't think she knew what she was doing. Ryo and the others created that armor and when they destroyed it in Africa they did so for good."

"Then why are they so scared of it?"

"You two have been lucky enough to meet them after it was gone," she looked at them, "You two didn't see just what that berserking weapon did to them. It almost killed them twice."

"Would Haytie know it's gone for good? Or do you think he'd try to make it?" Dais asked.

"If he wanted that armor he would have come long ago," Kayura answered, "No he wants them as they are now."

A silence filled the room for a few minutes, Sileny broke it, "White Blaze is there a way for them," she gestured to the Warlord and Kayura, "To perform a rescue mission?"


	22. Chapter 22

**Power**

Chapter Twenty Two

* * *

A rescue mission. The words weren't simple and the task even less so. Kayura had no idea how they would get to that place or if they even could. Sekhmet and Cale had gone to interrogate the kitsune hours ago, for all the good they knew it wouldn't do. But it was all they really had to go on.

She leaned back against the wall of her bedroom trying to figure out another way. Ideally she would have stayed to pick at White Blaze's brain and get him to remember how he got out. However that poor tiger needed rest desperately so she was trying to hold off on that for as long as she could. Before they had left Rachel and Sileny's home she told them she would let them know when they were leaving, Kayura had also asked to borrow any and all useful books Sileny would have on mythical creatures.

The blue haired girl finished the six books she was given already. Dais was in his chambers reading them now. Those books had a lot of useful information they planned to use when and if they could get to that place.

Even if they got there to help the Ronin there was still a whole mess of who knew what waiting for them. She knew about all the attacks in detail, not just from the Ronin but also from the few times the girls had been involved. There was no way to know what else was there.

"Kayura?"

She turned to the closed door, "Come in."

The door slid opened and the Warlord of Venom stepped inside, "That fox isn't going to talk. She damn near bit her tongue off, literally."

Bang went that plan. "Great… back to square one." She looked at him, "Where did Cale go?"

"To tell Dais," he walked over and sat down across from her. "White Blaze remains our only real lead. I agree he needs rest but the longer we wait-"

"I know." Kayura nodded slowly, "I'll go over there and talk with him. Maybe he's remembered something by now?"

"It's possible." He looked her over, "Do you want me to go with you?"

"No that's alright, I don't think I'll be long."

* * *

"December first…" Sileny turned the calendar in the kitchen with a sigh. "I wonder if we can get them back before the New Year?"

White Blaze grunted from the little bed they had made for him on the floor. He himself wasn't sure just how much time had passed since he got there. But each day he could feel himself getting stronger.

The front door opened and Rachel came bursting in with Black Blaze darting in front of her. She was bundled up tightly and closed the door quickly behind her.

Sileny stared, "Something chasing you?"

"Yes the cold air! I hate the cold." Rachel looked at her friend, "And here you are in short sleeves while I'm wearing a hoodie and a sweater."

"We've already established that I'm built for the cold and you're not." The older girl stroked Black Blaze's back as he walked past her, "You can turn the heater up if you need to."

Black Blaze walked over to White Blaze, _How do you feel_?

_Stronger every day_, He answered, sitting up.

Rachel put up her hoodie, "Any news?"

"Of course not," Sileny sat on the sofa, "I really don't like sitting here and doing nothing."

"I don't like it either," She sat beside her friend, "But what could we do?" White Blaze stood and walked slowly to Rachel, sitting beside her he placed his head on her lap. She smiled, "Thanks White Blaze, good to see you getting up and about."

Black Blaze turned his attention to the door, _We have company_. He looked to the older girl and grunted.

Before she could ask the doorbell ring, "Who the…?" She stood up.

"Maybe it's the g-"

"They have keys, why would the ring the bell?" Sileny reached out and opened the door. "Kayura."

"Kayura?" Rachel leaned back.

Sileny moved to let the blue haired girl in, "This is kinda surprising."

"I was hoping I wouldn't need to come back here," Kayura admitted slipping out of her shoes. She looked at White Blaze, "I need your help, White Blaze. That kitsune wasn't going to talk."

Black Blaze gave a low growl.

"Why is this not surprising?" Sileny asked exasperated throwing her arms into the air.

"Wait. You guys didn't get her to talk?" Rachel couldn't really say she was surprised but she was still disappointed.

She walked to the white tiger, "The guys did the best they could. I need you to tell me anything else you can about how you got there or got out. Or just the place in general."

White Blaze gave a sigh, _Kayura I do not remember how I got there_. _I was unconscious. As for how I got out, those parts are still fuzzy_.

"Just tell me what you can, maybe there is something there we can use."

_I will try_. He closed his brown eyes trying to remember, _I was in a small room with very little light. It was cold. Colder than the winters up in Sapporo_. _Ryo wasn't with me I know that, they had him and the others all in different rooms. Away from each other_…

"Why would they keep them away from each other?"

"What?"

She looked at Rachel, "White Blaze say's all the guys are in separate rooms away from each other."

"Maybe they did that because they are all strongest when they are together?"

_That would be my guess_, White Blaze nuzzled the warm lap beneath him. _I wasn't released… and I didn't really escape either. Something…_ His eyes shot open wide, _no someone let me out_. He lifted his head and looked at the other tiger. _Yun_.

"Yun?" Kayura blinked confused then looked at Black Blaze, "Who's Yun?"

Black eyes stared at the white tiger before he looked at the girl, _Yun is a friend from centuries ago. A girl who was killed in battle before Haytie took away the treasure she was protecting. If her ghost is there then_… _We might have a way in after all_.

"We have a way to get them?"

"We do?" The other girls said together.

Kayura frowned and looked at Sileny, "Black Blaze say's we need to put White Blaze in your car and go to Aokigahara."

"It'll take over an hour to get there at this time of night," Sileny pointed out, "And why there of all places?"

"He say's there is a ghost in there who can probably help us. You and Rachel will only go as far as the entrance to the forest. Once Black Blaze takes us to this man then he will lead White Blaze back to you two and you four will wait for us to return."

"What if he won't help?" Rachel asked, her attention on the other tiger.

Black Blaze lowered his head.

"Back to square one then…" Sileny took her keys off the table, "I hope the Warlords meet us there. There won't be enough room in the car for all of us."

* * *

White Blaze rested comfortably in the back seat of the car Sileny owned, his head on Kayura's lap. Black Blaze had run ahead of them long ago. They had sat in silence the whole time, the radio had been the only sound in the car no doubt to tell Sileny of any traffic problems. Sometime after they had gotten out of the heart of the city it began to rain lightly.

The smell of the rain filled his senses and calmed his nerves. For now at least. He hoped that Black Blaze had been right and their friend would help them… he just hoped their friend would not fully show himself. That would raise a string of questions White Blaze knew he was not even close to ready to answer.

"Sileny…" Dark blue eyes looked to the driver seat.

She kept her eyes on the road, "Hm?"

"I will have those books back to you as soon as I can."

"One thing at a time Kayura, I'm not worried about it." She turned off the main highway and onto a small road, "We're getting close."

Rachel gazed out the window, "It's beautiful."

"Beautiful and very dangerous," She trailed off as they pasted three warning signs, "Those signs out there telling people to seek help… I wonder if they really work?"

"Not all the time," Rachel looked down at her lap. "There was a story on the news a few nights ago about some hikers up here who found a whole family dead. Children had been poisoned and the parents hung themselves."

Sileny nodded slowly, "The police do a head hunt in there once or twice each year to retrieve as many bodies as they can. Sage said his father went once and swore never to do it again, they found over fifty bodies that year."

"The closer we get the more signs I see," Kayura observed, "White Blaze say's it's like a maze in there. Dense and rocky, he says that Black Blaze made this forest his home after the chaos in Africa."

"That's why he wants to be the guide, so you guys don't get lost." Rachel looked back to Kayura, "That means he must be warming up to you."

"I doubt that's the reason," Kayura admitted.

"I see them," Sileny drove the car off to the side and parked it.

Rachel was first one out, "At least it stopped raining."

Cale walked over, "You girls must have chased the rain away. It was pouring when we got here."

"The rain will make it difficult to get around in that place," Dais glanced back to the forest.

Sekhmet helped Kayura out, "I'm sure we will be fine as long as we watch our step."

"And our heads," Dais added.

"Just don't do anything too stupid," Sileny held the door open while White Blaze hopped out, "Where's Black Blaze?"

White Blaze answered by slowly walking to an opening in the fence, _How far in_?

Black Blaze shook his soaking fur, _About two miles_. He looked to the others with his eyes catching the light. _Kayura tell Sileny to take Rachel and wait in the town you past, they will be safer there and they can be warm and get food_.

The blue haired girl relayed the message, adding, "It might take a few hours to get there with our luck, seeing how dense this place is."

"We'll go there for a couple of hours," She nodded.

Rachel stared into the forest a heavy feeling in her stomach, "Are you sure you'll be safe in there?"

Dais nodded and put a hand on her shoulder, "We'll don our sub armor and that will keep us well protected. We've also been through many battles so if we see a few dead bodies it won't be anything new to us."

_Speak for yourself_, Kayura looked at him.

"We will also keep an eye on White Blaze for you," Cale promised.

Sileny crossed her arms, "I don't suppose there's any way to tell us if this guy will help you or not is there?"

"If you come back and see the tigers alone it was a success; if we are with them then it's back to where we started."

"Good luck guys," Rachel gripped the pockets of her hoodie, "And please be careful."


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: Hey guys! Here is the long awaited update. Two chapters for you. Thanks to everyone who is reading. I would always love feed back. Will get the next chapter(s) up as soon as I can.

* * *

**Power**

**Chapter Twenty Three**

* * *

"So that's what it feels like."

"What what feels like?" Dais glanced back to his green haired friend.

"To have someone who truly wants you to succeed and return."

"Close enough," Cale commented, "At least we found a pathway here so we aren't following blindly."

"We'll be going off the path soon," Kauyra warned them, "After that we need to keep an eye on White Blaze since Black Blaze will be next to invisible."

"Wonderful," Sekhmet rolled his eyes. He glanced around in the darkness, "This place is full of eyes both living and dead. Can you sense them?"

"I can feel them watching us," Cale agreed. "I heard rumors about this place even far north." He looked at Sekhmet, "Did you?"

He nodded, "I heard of a forest near Mount Fuji that had many strange things happening."

"I was in here once-not to take my life-but I used the forest to hide in after a battle went terribly wrong. It had a strange feeling to it then…"

"And now?" Kayura looked at him.

"It feels worse," He admitted. "You can feel the magic and death in the air."

"Strange that we have a place that is more known for its suicide than beauty. The way people take their lives today… it's not like it used to be." Cale sighed, "How things change."

Black Blaze gave a low grumble as he moved off the path, _They have no idea_. _How are you're wound fairing_?

_I am fine Black Blaze_, The white tiger stopped only one moment so the humans could see where he left the path.

"Here we go," Dais was the first off the path. Below their feet leaves and twigs crunched and broke. "If we go all this way for nothing."

"Lets just see what happens before we start thinking the worse," Kayura watched the white tiger leap over what looked like a fallen tree, "Watch your steps." She put her hands on the moist mossy bark and lept over. "I can hardly see anything."

"It's too dense in here for the moon to give much light," Sekhmet landed beside her, "At least White Blaze is kind enough to show us where most of the fallen trees are." He looked down and squinted, "I think there are rocks below us."

White Blaze turned his head and gave a roar to them, _Hurry and follow_.

They continued in silence. The only sounds where the noises in the forest. Trees swaying in the wind, the foliage crunching beneath their feet. It felt like hours had passed.

Sekhmet noticed something, "Why is there tape along some of the trees the further we go?"

"Black Blaze says people use the tape to help them find their way out if they chose to not kill themselves. The tape you see all lead to bodies, most have been found."

"Such a waist of life."

"He also say's we are getting close."

The tigers lead the way to towards the top of the hill, about ten feet from the top they stopped. When the humans caught up them they saw why, there tangled in the roots of the tree and glinting very subtly in what little moonlight there was where bones.

"These are old," Cale observed, "If we touched them they might turn to dust."

"Are these the remains of the one you think will help us?" Kayura looked to the tigers and she saw Black Blaze nod. "Is he still here or has he moved on?"

He is still here, the large demonic tiger took a deep breath before letting out a loud roar that shook the small branches around him.

Kayura rubbed her ears, "Black Blaze! What the hell?"

"They'll hear that all over the forest." Dais glared.

"I'm sure that was in intention," a familiar voice said from above.

Cale looked up and squinted, "Don't we know you?"

The man smiled, "Why yes you do."

* * *

Rachel hugged her legs to her chest as she watched the rain begin to fall outside the window of the little café they had found. "How long has it been?"

"Three hours," Sileny replied after she turned the page in the English guide book she bought. "We'll head back soon. I don't want to stay away from there too long."

"We are not going in here."

"I didn't say we were," Azure eyes looked at her, "I don't want to go in there at night. Least of all in bad weather. I just don't want to leave BB and White Blaze out in the cold and wet too long."

"I hope they get the help we need."

"If not I will go to the Nether Realm myself and make that bitch talk."

"I might have to help you with that," at the surprised look she got Rachel added, "I want them home just as badly as you do. If we can help by making that fox talk I'm all for it."

Sileny held up her coffee cup, "To doing what little we can."

"What little we can," Rachel clinked her own coffee cup with her friend's before they both took a drink.

The café door burst open and three young kids came running in, "Mama! Mama! Mama!"

"Don't run!" The lady who had made their coffee said, "Now where have you three been?"

"Mama! There was a noise in the haunted forest!"

Her eyes widened, "I told you boys to stay away from there it's not safe."

"It sounded like a roar."

The two friends looked at each other, "I think that's our que." Sileny said.

Rachel nodded.

* * *

"You actually dare to say this guy is your friend?! After everything he put them through?!"

Black Blaze sat down, _Yes. Not all training is done the way you think it_.

Keitaro looked at White Blaze, "You've been seriously injured."

_They have been taken, I think you might be able to help us get to them_.

"Help you get to them?" He repeated, "Just because I am a ghost doesn't mean I don't have limits."

"So you really are no help." Dais glared at this ghost before his eye found the black tigers, "This is not funny Black Blaze!"

"How do you think someone who put them through so much would-"

"Lady Kauyra I did it to prepare them for this very fight." The ghost interrupted, "Sadly it looks like that did not get me very far. I only hope no one died this time."

"They came close," Cale admitted, "Black Blaze thinks you can help us. If you can then do."

"How do you think I can help you get there? It's a separate realm like the one you come from," His eyes seemed to look through the tiger.

_Yun. Her own ghost is there and it was her that saved White Blaze's life_.

"…Yun?

Kayura saw his expression soften and turn to a deep sorrow, "Who is this Yun?"

"She is none of your concern." His gaze turned to her "If she is truly there then yes I can help you. But it will not be easy."

"Nothing good ever is."

"How many are you?"

"Just the four of us."

"All five of the Ronin are there?"

"Yes."

"Then we need five."

Black Blaze took a step forward, As much as it pains me I will be the fifth.

Keitaro shook his head, "No. The fifth must be human…" He paused, "Six would be better."

"Why?" Sekhmet answered.

"Five for five, and one for one. Five to fight, and one to help a lost soul."

"The only other real humans we know are not going with us," Kayura glared.

"Then I will not help you."

White Blaze growled, You will not be given a choice.

He glared back, is dead eyes glowing, "If you want my help then you have to help me as well. The dead do nothing for free."

White Blaze pinned his ears, _I may be injured but I am happy to go and find Yun_.

"No she saved you, you are not going back."

"Rachel and Sileny cannot go with us!" Kayura shouted.

Keitaro looked at her, "They are still with them? I'm surprised. Are they close?"

_Keitaro don't get any ideas_! Black Blaze growled.

"Do you want my help or not?"

* * *

Sileny turned off the car, "At least this time we found the parking lot."

Rachel nodded and pulled the thick blanket closer to her, "Do you think they will find us here?"

"I'm sure they will. I swear BB is some sort of demon, White Blaze too."

"Good demons."

"Of course," She rubbed her face, "Now if the coffee will just kick in."

"I hope the cops don't come by…"

"If they do we say I pulled over so I don't have to pay for a hotel. We can pull the stupid gaijin card."

"Yeah we could…" Rachel looked up and squinted, "What is that?"

"What?" Sileny followed her gaze. There was a light seeping through the trees. "What the hell?"

The light came closer before it blinded their vision.

Rachel rubbed her eyes, "Arg. What the hell was that all about?"

"Rachel? Sileny?"

Slowly she pulled her hands from her eyes, "Dais?" He and the other three stood on front of them fully armed. As her vision adjusted Rachel realized they were in a large dark room constructed from marble. "…Tell me this is not where I think it is."


	24. Chapter 24

**Power**

Chapter Twenty Four

* * *

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" Sileny fumed in a harsh voice, her Swedish accent had thickened as her temper flared. "Keitaro? The one who tied us to Tokyo Tower. You're telling me this same bastard is Black Blaze's friend. And the reason we're here?"

"Yes." Dais answered, "But I repeat, the four of us told him to leave you two out of this. I agree with you two, you cannot fight this worth a damn and you'll be little less than a hindrance."

"Then why are we here?" Rachel stared at them. "I'd rather be in the car warm and bored out of my mind than here. And if you four told him to leave us alone than who would-"

"I am going to skin that black cat and wear his pelt as a winter coat." Sileny interjected. "White Blaze is too nice to do this, I can't say the same for BB."

Cale snorted, "I'll help you with that, Sileny. That demon has done no one any favors."

Kayura, "If we get back I'm sure you can make it a date. Right now we should try to do something while we are here. We have five warriors to look for and we have no idea how long that will take us."

"Or if we are even in the right place," Rachel added.

"We have to start somewhere," Sekhmet had been obverting the room while the others told the girls what was going on, "There is only one way out and I'm sure the enemy will know we are here soon enough if they don't already. It's likely we'll have to search room by room until we find them or sense their presents. I for one can't sense any of them yet."

"Nor I," Kayura admitted then looked at the other warriors who shook their heads. "Rachel, Sileny have the guys taught you to fight at all?"

Rachel answered, "Kento's mother has taught me a little kung foo... and Ryo was teaching me to use a sword but we didn't get far."

"I know a little aikido," Sileny sighed, "What we know might not even help us here with magical beasts running around."

"I've an idea," Sekhmet took two of his swords from their sheaths and handed one each to the girls, "Don't let the blades touch your skin. You probably can't wield these still the enemy might think you can."

Both girls hesitated before they took the swords.

"You can't use your sank fang without these." Rachel looked at him.

"Hopefully I won't have to think about using it. Those blades are poison so anything comes near you two then you aren't completely defenseless."

The younger girl gripped the hilt of the sword, "We'll be careful."

Sileny gave a nod, "Let start the search."

Dais stepped in, "Speak only when you must and in a whisper. We don't know that they've found us yet so let's assume the element of surprise."

They left the large room and entered into one of the longest hallways any of them had ever seen. On top of being what seemed like never ending the ceilings where high; the doors large and closed.

"This is going to take forever," Rachel whispered.

Quiet as they could be the group walked down the marble hall, soft footsteps echoed off the walls. When they came to a door they would carefully try to open it, most wouldn't open and the ones that did had nothing but large empty rooms.

One door opened into a new hallway, they could see the end of this one and it seemed to lead into another hallway. No other doors.

"Should we go?" Dais looked at the others.

"I say we do," Cale answered, "We can't sense them here so we've been wasting valuable time."

Kayura looked back at the other girls, "Stay close to me."

They walked down the short hall with Cale in the lead, they paused only long enough for him to give an all clear sign then they moved into the next hall. This one was smaller but much more ornate, large crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling and light shown everywhere.

_It's like a palace in a fairy tale_, Rachel thought.

A few feet in front of them a door opened.

Dais grabbed Rachel and Sileny then pulled them to the wall, with the others closely following, "Do not move or make a sound." He told them in a hurried yet hushed voice.

Out from the door walked none other than Marijke herself. She held a large pillow with a small dagger on it, a group of small creatures with tails and pointed ears with pig like noses followed her. The vampire walked right past them without batting an eyelash. Along with her followers she turned down the very hall they just came out of.

_Dais used an illusion so she can't see us_. When the group heard the door close Rachel snapped her head to Sileny, "What the heck where those things?"

Sileny raised her eyebrows, "I want to say they are trolls…"

"Trolls?" Dais looked down at her. "What is a troll?"

She looked up at him, "They are spirits of nature for lack of better term, and they are not friendly things at all either." Her azure eyes turned to the door Marijke came out of. "They're strong creatures but really stupid."

Cale followed her gaze, "It would be good to look since the door is still open. I doubt they are in there."

"We should check anyways, might be something useful in there." Kayura took the lead to the room, "No one in here. Lots of weapons though," She stepped into the room.

Sileny stepped in behind her and gaped at the weapons, "Wow. It's like an armory from a medieval movie."

The walls where covered with swords, daggers, battle axes, spears and shields. Each different from the other in both style and metal, some were plane and others had such detail it truly looked like art.

"Only a few of these look Asian," Cale noted, studying a large sword on the wall.

"For all great weapons in Asia, Europe has thrice the number that are legendary," Rachel gripped her hoodie with her free hand, "I don't see the weapons Ryo and the others use."

Kayura looked like a light went off in her head, "I wonder…" She began to look at all the swords on the walls, "Anyone see any katanas?"

"I looked Kayura, they aren't here." Sekhmet told her.

"What are you looking for?" Rachel asked.

Kayura shook her head, "Never mind."

"Let's try the next room," Sileny said. The older girl turned to the door and froze.

At the door stood three of the trolls with large stone spears in their hands, behind them were four large black hounds with glowing red eyes.

Rachel took hold of her best friends sleeve just as Cale stepped in front of the two girls, "It begins," He said with a smirk.

Kayura took out her chained whip, _Leave at least one alive_, she told her comrades.

* * *

"My lord!" A small troll limped into the throne room, trying to run.

Marijke inhaled deeply at the smell of fresh blood, "What happened to you?"

The troll fell to its knees, "In the tenth weapons room… intruders… four of them in armor."

Haytie set the dagger back onto the pillow, "Four in armor?" He repeated, "There are more then?"

Gasping for breath the troll answered "Six… three male and three female, and all armed."

His gaze turned to the vampire, "Marijke."

"The armored ones must be those Warlords we heard about from that boy Ekin lost us. He only mentioned four, thus those other two girls must be the ones your new prizes held dear. Perhaps they are their lovers?"

"Whatever they are, get rid of them. Send them out of my palace. Kill them if you must."

"As you wish, my lord."

* * *

Dais held down the troll as Cale pointed his claws at the throat of the creature, they knew one had gotten away and it wouldn't be long before other things came after them. They had to act quickly.

The roll glared at them, "Dumme menschen! Sie werden dafür leiden!"

"What the hell did that thing just say?" Sekhmet pointed his sword.

"Is it just me or did that thing speak…" Sileny glanced to her best friend who nodded slowly.

"You understood it?" Sekhmet looked at her.

"What did it say?" Dais asked never taking his eye from the troll.

"It's not important what it said," Rachel answered. She took a long deep breath before walking out from behind the pillar she had been hiding behind. The girl stopped behind Dais, "Wir sind für unsere Freunde suchen."

Cold eyes glared through her.

Kayura looked at Sileny, "Is that German?"

The Swedish girl nodded.

"Dein Meister stahlen sie von uns!" She was glaring now, "Wir kamen, um sie zurück zu bekommen."

The troll spat, "Sie finden nicht seine neue Preise. Sie warden alle hier sterben."

"He knows Ryo and the others are here." Rachel looked at the others, "He's called them his master's new prize."

Kayura glared at the creature, "Rachel tell him to tell us where they are or his death will be slow and painful." Her dark blue eyes glanced at Sekhmet who smirked manically.

Rachel relayed the message. The troll answered her and tried to struggle free but Cale slashed the creatures leg deeply with his sword.

"What did it say?" He asked.

"He claims he doesn't know where they all are, he only saw them take one with blue on the armor to the western most hall way. And he said we would never make it that far, we would all die here."

"Blue armor? That could be either Rowen or Cye." Kayura put her hands on her hips, "Rachel come back this way."

The girl turned and went right to her friend, she saw Sileny look away as Rachel heard Dais and Cale give the killing blow to the troll.

"We at least have a starting point now," Cale said optimistically.

"How is that a starting point?" Azure eyes looked at him, "We don't even know where we are right now. Let alone which direction is what."

"Wait, Sileny don't you have your car keys?" Rachel looked at her.

The girl shook her head, "No, I checked. They are in my car."

"How would her car keys help us?" Dais crossed his arms.

"I've a small compass on my key chain," Sileny paused, "And so do you." She looked at Rachel.

The girl blinked and her hands immediately went to her front pockets on her jeans, then the back before one went inside the pocket of her hoodie. Sky blue eyes widened as she pulled out her keys, on the end were three little keychains and one large one.

"You two," Sekhmet looked between them, "Are being more help than we all thought."

Both girls gave a tiny triumphant smile before they looked at the small compass.

"Does it work?" Kayura asked.

"Looks like it," Rachel pointed, "That way is north."

"Which makes west that way," Sekhmet looked in the western direction, "I wonder who's that way."

"I'm going to say it's Cye."

Kayura looked at the orange haired girl, "It could be Rowen just as easily."

"I'm pretty sure it'll be Cye."

"What makes you so sure?" The one eyed warrior asked.

"From everything we've seen, most of what Haytie has comes from the European or western countries. Traditionally in those countries west is the direction associated with water," she looked at them, "So it would make the most sense that would be where Cye is."

"Would it be safe to assume then that Ryo is in the south since he is fire and south is always associated with heat?"

"Yes," she paused, "Kento would be north and Rowen would be in the east."

"What about Sage?" Cale asked, "Where does he fall?"

"I have no idea. Light isn't an element by traditional standards." She sighed, "It really sucks too because we'd probably be better getting him first since he's the only one who can communicate telepathically with everyone."

Rachel looked at her best friends, "South east."

"South east?"

"Sage is light yes, but his attacks are based in thunder and true lightening. Both are in the air and lightening causes fire when it strikes."

"Rachel you're a genius."

"Alright so we see if we can find Sage first," Dais watched the others nod, "We better move fast before the enemy finds us."


	25. Chapter 25

**Power**

Chapter Twenty Five

* * *

Sileny stopped keeping track of time, for all she knew they had been here for a day or two at this rate. Since they had left the weaponry room they found six other rooms just like it, ten rooms filled with statues that had been covered in jewels an gold, countless locked doors, three grand staircases, and one room that had looked like a reproduction of an Egyptian Pharaoh's tomb.

_This place is like a high class maze_, she thought to herself. The only thing they hadn't run into yet had been more creatures. They had stayed as close to south east as they could, and while she was sure they had walked miles the warlords still couldn't sense Sage. Or any of them.

They hadn't been talking much either. Sileny was sure the other four had been talking telepathically to each other given the looks that had passed between them. The last thing she and Rachel said was back when they found the first grand stair case, Sileny had put the sword Sekhmet lent her up through her belt so it hung at her side. She told Rachel how she did it and the auburn haired girl had followed suite.

_My feet are killing me_.

"Are you kidding me?" Kayura's whisper gave a faint echo, "Three hallways."

The group stopped, a few feet in front of them the hallway they'd been following split into three. Each one was dimly lit, and each one went straight.

"Rachel?"

The youngest girl looked at the green haired soldier, "All I can say is ahead is still south east."

"Usually this is the part where we would split up," Dais let out an aggravated sigh, "But that is not a good idea."

"We may not have a choice," Sekhmet looked at him, "It was only a matter of time before something like this happened. We can talk to each other still."

"Yes but what about-"

"I'll take the girls with me," Kayura said. "We'll take the tunnel in the middle and-"

"Shhh. Quiet."

"Sileny-"

"Will you shut up?" She looked at the others and tilted her head, her eyes moving around.

"What is it?" Rachel asked in a low whisper.

"Can you guys hear that?"

The group went silent again.

Cale was the first to pick out the sound, "Footsteps. A lot of them."

One of the large door they past burst open and a large group of the trolls ran out, about twenty or so. They spread out in the hall with their weapons pointing at the Warlords and the girls. They shouted something at them.

Sekhmet drew a sword, "Rachel what are they saying?"

"I can't make it out, too many are talking at once," She answered.

The trolls went silent when a large rumbling sound echoed off the walls.

Sileny felt her stomach tighten, _Oh no…_

Marijke walked out into view, a sadistic smirk playing on her face, "Isn't this adorable? Six little humans coming to the rescue. Makes my heart want to pump. As noble as you may find your effort you cannot save them, they belong to my master now."

"They belong to no one!" Kayura glared, "They are our friends and we will release them!"

"Can you?" The vampire looked genially amused, "Many have tried taking things from my master and all fail." She held up her hand revealing a large golden chain, "Since you've intruded you have given us full license to kill you."

"Can you kill us?" Dais took out his weapon, "Three of us survived civil wars and once where enemies with the ronin. Just because you are a vampire with monsters doesn't mean you can win."

She gave the chain a yank, "Come Devu."

The beak of the creature was the first thing that came into view before it walked out, a large piece of cloth covered its eyes. It lifted its head and shrieked.

"What the hell is that thing?" Cale drew his sword.

"That's the cockatrix that attacked Rowen and I!"

"What?!" Rachel stared at her friend.

Kayura remembered hearing about this, _Do not look that thing in the eyes_! She all but screamed at the Warlords.

"Devu strike." The vampire commanded and the creature was all too happy to oblige. The cockatrix lurched its head out and snapped its beak at the wall behind them, rubble began to fall down, blocking one of the three hallways.

The group was able to dodge the debris… for the most part.

"Fast reflexes," Marijke mused. "Well some of you."

Sileny hiss as she gripped her left hand and held it tightly. _Shit_.

"Sileny?" Sekhmet looked over her shoulder.

"I'll be fine, it's a scratch." She looked at him then up as the durst cleared, "Rachel?"

"I'm fine."

The large creature shook its head, the fabric loosened but didn't fall. Everyone moved back as the creature swished its tail in the hall, hitting walls, causing them to crack and more pieces of debris to fall. It stopped and the beast turned its head to the side, twitched and began sniffing the air. Then it growled and the scales that covered it stood the way ruffled feathers.

The cockatrice growled as the head turned to Sileny's direction.

She began to back up, "I think it remembers me..." She whispered.

"Sileny run." Sekhmet pushed her to the side as Devu lurched his head out again. Sileny felt someone grab her arm before she was pulled into one of the hallways. Stone fell from the walls again and blocked the entrance.

Marijke walked up the side of the wall, "Devu stayed focused. There's only three now so make it quick."

Dais smirked as he took out his weapon, "Don't underestimate the three of us vampire."

* * *

"Okay who pulled me?"

"That was me," Kayura answered, "Rachel is here too."

As their eyes began to adjust to the darkness they could see small crystals in the walls letting off light.

"Wait it's just us three?" Rachel looked at her two friends.

"For now yes," Kayura looked at them, "They will take care of things over there and we'll meet up later."

"Where exactly?" Sileny asked.

"We'll figure that out later."

"In other words you don't know yet."

Sky blue eyes looked at her best friend, "Sileny why are you holding your hand that way?"

"Because I'm bleeding."

"What?" The other two said at almost the same time.

"I got hit by a sharp rock or something that fell, it's just a scratch and I'll be fine."

"Let me see it."

"Rachel you won't be able to see it in this light."

Kayura sighed, "She's right. Let's just start walking and see where this goes."

The trio heard a large roaring coming from the other end of the rubble.

"Will they be alright?" Rachel asked.

_I don't know_, "If they remember not to look in the eyes I'm sure they will be fine." Kayura assured her. She leads the way down the hall with the two girls close behind her. "Sileny how could they kill that thing?"

"Unless Dais can create a damn good rooster cock-a-doodling to a very real sun, I'd say tell them to try killing it like you would any other beast."

"A rooster's crowing can kill it?" Rachel looked at her friend, "You said it left when the sun came up."

"And that thing looked a lot like a rooster."

Sileny sighed, "A cockatrice or a basilisk is created when a toad sits on a chicken egg until it hatches. In my books a rooster's crowing kills it, my guess is it's really the sun that kills it. Before people knew better an only had superstitions a lot of them thought the crowing of a rooster would bring the sun. Which would explain why it stopped attacking us when it did."

"That does make sense." The blue haired girl stopped, "A dead end?" She reached out her hand and touched the wall before them covered in crystal.

"Can't be, look." The youngest pointed down, "There' light coming from the bottom. This must be a door."

She pushed, "It won't open."

"Maybe we need to pull on the crystals or something?"

Kayura looked at Sileny and nodded once. Looking around she spotted a clump of glowing green and yellow crystals. She reached out and wiggled it, "This one's loose."

"Try it."

She tried pulling it, nothing happened. Yet when she turned it…

The sounds of something moving echoed on the walls. Like when machines started up, it was a low rumble. The ground and walls shook a little then went still. They stood quiet for a moment just looking at each other.

Then the ground gave out beneath them.

* * *

The first thing Rachel was aware of was the pounding in her head followed by the ringing in her ears. Last thing she remembered was falling through a trapped door with her two friends. She groaned and stat up, the ground was hard and cold under her.

"Ow…" she winced and held her head, "Kayura? Sileny? Are you two okay?"

No answer.

"Guys?" Her eyes flew open and she looked all around her. They weren't there. "Oh nein…"

The sounds of stone moving drew her attention back to the front, showing her a large labyrinth with moving walls and parts of the floor rising and falling on their own.

She stared then looked up to the blackness. Rachel couldn't even tell how far she fell.

"Oh nein." Fear gripped her, "Sileny, Kayura wo bist du?"*

* * *

Translations for you, and please correct me if I am wrong.

"wo bist du" = "where are you?"

"nein." = No.


	26. Chapter 26

A/N: Two chapter update for you! Please R&R. We are over half done at this point.

* * *

**Power**

Chapter Twenty Six

* * *

A scream. No three screams. And he knew all three of them. His eyes still wouldn't open no matter how hard he tried. _God damn it! I will not be a living statue again!_

His finger twitched.

* * *

Fantastic. Simply _fantastic_. She had charged herself with protecting them. Now she had been separated from them. With no real way to contact them either.

"I swear if I ever get out of here I'll find a way to hurt that ghost!" She cursed in a hushed tone. Dusting herself off she looked around the room she had landed in.

It was a large conservatory-easily the size of the throne room in the Neather realm-full of dead or overgrown plants. The air in here was stale and felt heavy. When Kayura looked up she could see the hole in the ceiling where she had fallen in. His …no _her_ subarmor had probably saved her from any real damage.

_Oh gods what if the girls had been seriously hurt? Or worse. Wait no. Calm down Kayura. Maybe they are fine? Hell they might be in the room next door_?

She saw the large double doors and made a bee line for them.

"You are very different from the rest of them, aren't you child?"

Kayura stopped and glared, "What if I am?" She turned and glared death to the vampire, "Aren't you supposed to be with your cockatrice?"

"Devu doesn't need my assistance." She smirked from her seat on a dead tree, "And I think you'll be much more entertaining than your comrades."

"Where are the other two girls?" Kayura demanded.

"I don't know or really care right now. You four may have armed them but we are well aware they can't really use those swords." She pointed up at the trapped door in the ceiling, "These doors and tunnels lead to nearly all the rooms. There are infantine possibilities of where one might end up. Unlike you and your comrades those two have no armor and very little magic to protect them. Thus in all likelihood they are dead."

The vampire stood and floated down from the tree, "You really are different from them aren't you? I can smell it in your blood." A hunger came to those dark eyes. "And taste it in the air around you."

* * *

Rachel had no intentions of entering the labyrinth. Though she hadn't counted on the ground she was on already being a part of it. She only had a few minutes to fully register that she was alone in a room with a huge maze before the ground shifted into a curve and she rolled down it, narrowly missing a wall.

While she still had the sword Sekhmet lent her the same couldn't be said about the compass. It had shattered after the fall and what was left of it was inside her hoodie pockets. Now she was not only lost but had no real direction to go.

_Try and keep calm Rachel, panic won't help you now_. She told herself. Was Kayura okay? Was Sileny?

The young girl stood and held onto the wall for balance. _Think. Mazes used to protect thing or hold things in myths. Think…_ then it hit her. The story of the Minotaur had a huge elaborate maze in it. And her friends had fought a Minotaur and won, this could very well be the maze it lived it. _Did they kill it_? She couldn't remember.

Slowly she took the sword from her belt and held it the way Ryo had shown her. She hoped there wasn't going to be a reason to use it, however this had not been her day. As much as she wanted too she knew she really couldn't stay in one spot. Slowly and quietly she began walking down the hallway of the maze.

Rachel could still hear the sounds of stone moving, really it was all she could hear. Even if the sounds fill her ears she could feel her heart racing, the muscles in her stomach tightening, and every muscle in her back screaming in pain.

When she got to the end of the hall the only direction she could turn was left, then right, then she came to another large hallway that was a dead end.

"Now what?" She whispered.

The ground below her shifted and she was elevated at least seven feet high. Everything in the maze changed until she was in a room with six possible doors to go through.

"Great." Sky blue eyes looked around. _Which way_? She could hear something over the stones moving, though she couldn't make it out. When she turned to look at the door in the far corner on her left she saw a growing shadow on the wall.

She stepped back, gripping the sword tight as she creature entered the area. It wasn't the Minotaur. It was some sort of animal though, walking on all four legs and growling. This thing had a strange looking tail and an almost human face, no fur and covered with burn… burn marks.

"The Manticore?" She asked allowed.

"Ah.. the little human female knows of me." The voiced was a raspy echo. "And holds a sword of poison. Such an interesting story you must have."

"Ryo sent you over a building on fire."

"Indeed the red warrior did just that. Yet simple fire cannot kill me." He began to chuckle, "Though clearly he's left his lasting mark. I'll feel these even after my fur grows back." The creature's eyes studied her, "You know the Ronin of Wildfire then? Then you're one of the six here to try and take them from my master."

"They don't belong to him! Or anyone!" She glared with this sudden spark of courage.

"They belong to my master now." There was an unnerving twinkle in his eyes, "I'm not partial to female meat it's too soft for me. I'll just kill you quickly as a courtesy to a lady." The Manticore lurched at her.

Rachel wasn't sure where she found the speed to run but she was glad that she did. She had moved in time for the creature to crash into the wall behind her then she bolted out of the nearest door and town a spiral hallway. She could hear it roaring somewhere behind her.

She tripped and fell, half way exceed to get pounced on, then the ground elevated again and only she was high in the air. It took a few deep breaths to calm her down then she saw the beast below circling the pillar she was on. This was not looking good. She took a deep breath and gripped the sword beside her.

_I don't want to be the stupid damsel!_ She glared down at the Manticore.

He was still circling her, waiting, his ear moved once to the side and he leapt up at the stone. Jumping about half way up before sliding back down. Claw marks had been left on the stone.

_Shit._ Rachel felt the panic rising in her stomach. She glanced over and saw a pair of horns moving quickly in the maze. _Oh no_… The ground rumbled below her and Rachel gave out a yelp as the pillar dropped. The Manticore jumps up to get her, she swung the sword and cut the beast in the chest. He jumped over her and stumbled into a wall.

Rachel shot off the pillar as it got closer to the ground and took off. The walls and floor were moving all around her but that was the least of her concern. Now she had both a Manticore and the Minotaur in the room with her. He rounded a corner when a wall burst from the ground blocking her path. She couldn't help but run into it.

_Dead end_. She realized. Turning she saw the injured beast at the end of the hall.

Blood and puss dripped from the wound she had given him, "You give a good chase." He hissed. Crouching down he rolled his shoulders.

The auburn haired girl held the sword in front of her. She knew she was shaking.

He pounced.

Rachel closed her eyes. Nothing happened. She opened them and found herself looking at stone. It was all around her trapping her.

"Stay away from her baldy!" A voice shouted.

Relief filled her, "Kento."

* * *

The Manticore shook its head and looked at the warrior, "How did you wake? That slumber should have kept you for eternity."

"In case you forgot I'm not a normal person." There was anger behind his voice that the Ronin of Hardrock was not going to bother hiding. This monster had attacked and damn near killed his best friend, now it had been bent on killing Rachel.

It made no reply.

The ground below them began to tremor, followed by the walls crumbling down, a large crack ran between the two of them. Kento slammed his weapon to the ground as he used to do with his Iron Rock Crusher. Sharp edge boulders and bits of the stone shot into the air and began circling them.

This time it spoke, "Trying to intimidate me?"

"_Not at all_." Kento said in his native language. Five pointed boulders flew at the beast, one pinned down each leg and when the beast cried out another went right throw his back in the same place he had hit Cye. The Ronin of Hardrock walked quickly to the beast and without thought or hesitation, decapitated it.

The beast fell down, dead. Dead for real this time he knew it. He glared at the body then spun around, the shield he placed around Rachel dissolved and there she was. Shaking but clearly happy to see him, Kento walked forward and hugged her close to him. She was shaking like a leaf but returned the hug with equal force.

"Are you hurt?" He pulled away and looked her over.

"I don't think so," she lied trying to calm down. "I did fall once but he never got me."

She looked fine, just upset, "Rachel what the hell are you doing here?" He gripped her shoulders, "That thing almost killed Cye. You should at least have Black Blaze-"

"Black Blaze is back in Aoikigahara with White Blaze," she interrupted, "White Blaze came to the house a few day ago and looked half dead." She raised her hands up and gripped the armor on his arms as she told him about what happened that day.

"Okay," He was trying his damndest not to look half as angry as he felt, "I understand the rescue mission from the Warlords, but you shouldn't be here Rachel."

Sky blue eyes widened, "Do you seriously think I _volunteered_ to come here? That Sileny did? No! We planned to stay behind and get whatever we needed to ready for when you five came back and to have a vet come take a look at White Blaze. Someone brought us here!"

Now he was pissed off, "_What_?!" This was not something he was going to let slip. Rachel and Sileny had become great friends, how dare those warlords drag them into this! "Where are they? The Warlords."

"I don't know-and it wasn't them." She admitted, "Kayura, Sileny and I took a different path from the guys when they came across that cockatrice that attacked Rowen. We walked along a hall with these glowing crystals, there was a dead end that we thought was a door but when we tried opening it the floor gave out like a trapped door. I got separated from them and ended up in here."

He cursed loudly in his head, then he let go of her. "We'll find them." Kento assured her, "Them and the guys." He took her hand and walked with her through the rubble he had made. Keeping her close he immediately reached out to Kayura, _Where the hell are you_?!

_Kento_! She sounded as relieved as Rachel had, if not more so, _I'm in a conservatory fighting the vampire. Where are you and the others_?

He didn't know where his friends were, _I just killed the Manticor and saved Rachel's life_. _I don't know where the others are_._ Is Sileny with you?_

No.

"Shit."

"What?"

"Sileny isn't with Kayura." He looked at her.

Rachel paled, "She's not…?" She took a deep breath, "We all really did get separated."

"We'll find her and the others, Rachel."

Sky blue eyes looked at him, "Can you sense the others?"

"I think so. I sensed Kayura just fine." He stopped when they reached the area with the trapped door in the ceiling. "I also heard you three scream."

She stared at him.

He looked at her, "I was what was on the other side of the door you guys tried to open."

"You're kidding."

"I'm not."

"What the hell…" The campus had lied. On top of that, "Kayura and the others couldn't even sense you."

"They didn't?"

"No."

"I sensed her just fine."

"Was there something in the room? A seal to keep them from sensing you?"

"I don't know. Maybe," He shrugged, "Look going up through the tunnels is the only way in or out of here." He held out his arm, "Hold on."

She took hold of his arm. Before she could ask why the ground shot up with them like an elevator, stopping a good ten feet from the door. "I will never ride in an elevator again." She let go of his arm.

"Hey I just figured out this trick." He cupped his hands together and crouched down, "Ladies first."

She put the sword in her belt then hesitated, "This sword is-"

"Trust me Rachel that sword isn't one I'd forget."

"I don't want to poke you in the face, you go first."

"I'll put my mask down, it'll be okay." He gave her a grin to try and calm her down, "Now come on. We need to find the others."

She sighed and gave a nod. Stepping onto his hands she reached out as he lifted her up with ease. The tunnel's walls weren't smooth at all and she found herself crawling in there easily. "Kento." She paused and looked at him.

"Yeah?" He jumped up and crawled in after her.

"I'm sorry." She saw his confused look and added, "To be a pain like this."

He picked up on what she was saying easily enough, "Rachel. I just care that you're okay, be a pain in my ass. I'll gladly take it right now."

Rachel smiled then started crawling up again.


	27. Chapter 27

New Year and a new chapter for everyone!

* * *

**Power**

Chapter Twenty Seven

* * *

"_How long_?" Kento stared at the back of her head with wide eyes.

"It was the first of December when we left," Rachel repeated, "You've all been missing for over a month."

He cursed loudly in Chinese, "Mama's going to have my head."

"I'm sure she'll be happier to see your head on your shoulders where it belongs," she looked back at him, "Sileny and I went around town looking for your guys just about every day. She knows you've been missing."

* * *

There was a silence in the room that felt heavy as a wool coat. For hours he had been trying to move or even just to open his eyes. Nothing would listen to him. He had even tried to call out to his friends, when he did it didn't feel like it worked.

For a while now it had felt like someone had tried to call out to him, a few minutes ago it had felt much more urgent and happened twice, almost simultaneously. But he couldn't tell who it was or what they tried to say.

Then he heard a sound.

And another, it was like a yelp.

Above him there was a sliding sound followed by another yelp.

"WHHAAGG!"

"OOFF!"

Someone landed on him.

They fell back against the ground and there was the loud sound of something ceramic breaking.

"Ow..."

He groaned and rubbed his face, at least now he could mo-wait… wait-wait-wait-wait-he knew that voice. Violet eyes shot open to see the girl who had landed on him, "Sileny?"

"Sage?" Her eyes widened from her awkward spot on his abdomen. She rolled off him and sat up, "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," He sat up slowly, "Thanks to you I can move now. Are you alright?"

"I will be," she rubbed her stomach, "Are you?"

"I'm not hurt," he paused, "Sileny what are you doing here? I know I was captured. You shouldn't be in a place like this."

"I'm making the most of a bad situation-before you bombard me any further with questions, no this was not our idea I'd rather be back home, not here giving us both a heart attack."

"_Our idea_?" He repeated, even though he was sure of the answer.

"The warlords are here too. Kayura and Rachel too, we all got separated."

"How did you guys even get here?"

She looked uneasy, "I've decided it's pretty much Black Blaze's fault that Rachel and I are here; as for the others it was a ghost. I'll explain more later."

Sage cursed, "Okay hang on." He took a deep breath. _Anyone else out there_?

_Sage_!

_Kento! Where are you_?

_Climbing through a tunnel of some kind with Rachel, she got dragged here_.

_Sileny gave me a brief version of that_.

_She okay? Are you okay too, man_?

_We're fine_. He looked at her, "Kento is with Rachel."

Sileny sighed with relief and leaned forward, "Oh thank the gods."

"Kayura is in a conservatory somewhere fighting the vampire. They haven't heard from her in a while."

"This place is huge so we better start moving if we want a chance of meeting up with someone," Azure eyes glanced up, "I don't think we can get in the way I came."

"Let's just use the door. You think you can guide us both back to the warlords?"

"Only if that's a hallway we've been in before."

"Here's hoping." Sage stood and helped Sileny to her feet, "How long have we been here?"

"Just over a month."

"…What?"

"It's December, or at least it was when we left. I don't know how long we've been here." She took a step and the sound of ceramic breaking echoed off the walls, "What the?" Looking down, she moved her foot.

"An incense burner," Sage observed. He lifted his head and looked around the room. For the most part it was bare. Dark walls and hardwood floor, along with what was left of the chair he had been sitting on. The door in front of them was a large marble double door with large candelabras on either side. "Let's go find the others."

They pushed the door open.

There was a large grand staircase made of white marble facing them, "Luck is on our side, I do know this…" She trailed off then turned to face him.

"What?"

"You've been in this room the whole time?" When he nodded her eyes widened, "We walked right past this door, twice, and they never sensed you."

Now that really surprised him, "You sure? I didn't hear anything."

"We all kept quiet so they wouldn't know we are here" she pointed, "Then down that way and a few turns we got surprised by trolls and the cockatrice."

"Trolls?" He looked at her.

"Yes, trolls."

"Sileny please fill me in on what the hell has been going on."

"Alright," she led the way down the hall, "About three weeks after we last heard from the five of you Dais and Cale came to us asking if we had seen you. When we said no that was when we all went together to your homes looking for you since Rachel and I have keys. We went to Ryo's place first, it looked like a battle field. From there we split up, Rachel went with Dais over to Cye and Kento's apartment while Cale followed me to the one who and Rowen share."

He nodded slowly, "Are our places destroyed too?"

"No, that was the weird thing. Your places looked fine." She glanced at him, "Rachel called over to your place and we all decided to split up again. I stayed at your place, Rachel stayed where she was, and Kayura dashed over to Ryo's place. While we all stayed there the Warlords and Black Blaze searched the city all night and most of the next day trying to find you guys. By then we had all figured out you'd be captured.

"A few days ago White Blaze just appeared in the backyard half dead. Rachel went in to call the warlords but it was Kayura that came to help us." Sileny paused and looked at him, "She can communicate with White Blaze and Black Blaze now."

Sage was surprised at the last bit, "Did he tell her what happened then?"

She nodded and continued, "The reason why Ryo's place was so trashed is because White Blaze had been trying to protect him from the vampire and her hounds. They brought him here too and had been torturing him, it took him a while to remember how he escaped. He…" She trailed off when Sage stopped walking, lowering her voice to a whisper she asked, "What is it?"

The blonde looked at her, "Rowen is with Kayura."

* * *

She sighed, "Good they are both safe then." Kayura glanced at the remains of the vampire's corps smoking on the floor. "I've never seen you use an attack like that before."

"I'm so done with that bitch _and_ this mess it's not even funny." Rowen looked at her, "Warlords are here too?"

She nodded.

"White Blaze and Black Blaze?"

"No."

He crossed his arms over his chest, "So you four bring in Rachel and Sil into this but-"

"Rowen! I'd really rather not get into this right now!" She glared, "We need to get out of this room and catch up with the others then I will explain everything."


	28. Chapter 28

**Power**

Chapter Twenty Eight

* * *

Trolls lay dead all over the area, by their hands or the beast, they didn't know or really care. Right now it was just the three of them and this cockatrice. The trio had been able to deal it a considerable amount of damage so far-even taking out its other eye.

Yet there it still stood, bleeding from the wounds and hissing like a snake.

Sekhmet's ears still rang from being thrown through a wall by this thing. He would definitely be feeling the bruises forming in an hour or less too. His poisons had only done a little damage, destroying skin and oozing out of the wounds he had left behind.

_We need to bring it down somehow_! Cale's voice entered his mind.

_Any ideas_? Sekhmet asked him.

_Still working on that_.

Dais dodged out of the way from the thing's tail then glanced at the rubble that was blocking the door the girls vanished into. _I got one, we need to move_.

_Move_?

_Don't you sense that_?

Below them the ground began to shake violently. The trio moved away from the hallways and the beast lifted its head to let out a loud sound before the pail of rubble shot out of the entrance and buried the creature.

Kento glared at the monster, "And stay down!"

"Kento!" The Warlord of Venom greeted him, "Are you alright?"

"I'm pissed off!" He answered.

"Where is Rachel?" Dais asked.

"I'm here," She poked her head out from behind her friend. "You guys okay?"

"We've been better," he answered.

"Kayura and Sileny?" Cale asked while keeping his eyes on the rubble.

"Kayura is with Rowen and Sileny is with Sage, all of them are on their way." The Ronin of Hardrock glanced back, "Stay in here."

"I plan to," She answered as he dashed out to meet the others.

Cale watched as the cockatrice emerged from under the rubble to let out another screeching sound, "The only real damage we've been able to do it take out its eye."

Kento gripped his weapon, "Hey it's something."

"How did you do that with the rocks and rubble?" Dais asked.

"I've figured out a lot of tricks in the last hour."

The Cockatrice stood up and shook its head, it began hissing in their direction. Blood dropped out of its beak, pooling on the floor. He spread his wings out, dwarfing them all. It began flapping the wings, sending strong winds at them. Almost enough force to send them back.

Chains shot up from the ground all around them. All the warlords and the Ronin where able to avoid the chains while the same could not be said for the cockatrice who protested loudly. The whaling only got louder after a volley of arrows shot through the wings.

"Kayura! Rowen!"

The blue hair girl smiled at him, "Kento! Where's Rachel?"

"I'm over here!" She called from the hallway.

"You two okay?" Dais asked.

"Peachy," Rowen shouted over the sounds of the cockatrice, _this thing looks bigger than the last time I saw it_.

"This is thing sure is a chicken lizard like you guys said," Kento shouted to him.

"Sileny said it best," Rowen smirked and took out another arrow, "Move back!" He only gave the warning before letting go of the arrow. It flew above the cockatrice, hit the ceiling and exploded hard enough that the ground shook.

The ceiling above the beast caved in, yet the beast moved just not in time to avoid getting his wing severed. An ungodly screaming echoed off the walls.

"Look out!"

It thrashed around the debris and crashed through one of the wall, blood began to pool as it lay on the ground not moving.

"Is it dead?" Rachel asked.

"No! It's still breathing," Kayura answered. Both she and Rowen walked past the mess around the fallen beast. "I don't think we need to worry about it anymore…"

"I hope you're right," Sekhmet went to meet them, "The vampire?"

"Very dead."

"So's the Manticore."

"Wait…What?" Rowen looked at his friend, "Ryo sent it over the building burning alive."

"It lived and was going to eat Rachel," Kento moved his head in her direction, "I took care of it."

Kayura couldn't help it, "You sure?"

"There is really only one creature that live without a head," Rachel piped up as she slowly walked out of the hall, "And that's the cockroach. I'm sure Sileny can back me on that one, the Manticore is very dead."

Rowen put his hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay?"

Rachel nodded slowly, "Possibly bruised and a little shaken, but I'm fine."

The tall boy nodded and looked to his friend.

"I'm pissed as hell about all this."

"That makes two of us."

"Actually it makes seven of us," Cale gestured to the group, "Is Sage close?" Both Ronin nodded, "Anything from Ryo or Cye?"

"Nothing," Rowen said through gritted teeth.

Sky blue eyes widened, "Guys…"

They turned to see the cockatrice stumbling back into the hallway. Kento and Rowen stood in front of Rachel as the others took a stance.

* * *

"Rowen, Kayura, Kento and Rachel have joined up with the warlords," Sage explained "But they are still fighting the cockatrice thing."

"_Still_?" Sileny was sure if she should be surprised or not. She didn't want to see it alive again.

"Cale said they've managed to take out its eye, it just made everything worse." He looked at her, "But that means it can't kill them as easily right?"

"That thing was throwing Rowen around like a rag doll, I'd be more worried about its beak than its eyes… or lack thereof."

He gave a nod, "How can they kill it?"

"Have they tried cutting its head off?"

"Swords aren't big enough."

"Sekhmet's poisons?" She raised the borrowed sword.

"Not having much of an effect. Either this thing has a really strong immune system or it just runs on adrenaline."

"Kayura's there, could she strangle it with the Quack with Fear attack?"

He was silent for a moment, "She'll give a try. Really though how do they-"

"Like I told Kayura-unless Dais can create a really damn good rooster illusion I don't…" She trailed off and stopped then looked at him.

"What?"

"Sage can you recreate sunlight?" When he gave her a confused look she added, "It left Rowen and I when it saw the sun coming up. Maybe that's how we can kill it? With sun light."

"I've never done something like that before."

"You healed Ryo's eyes with sunlight."

"The sunlight was reflecting _off_ my blade not coming _out_ of it."

She looked annoyed, "You might want to be ready just in case you have to try."

"I know," He admitted and drew his sword, "I'll warn the others about it."

Sileny nodded, "We're not far."

A loud sound animalistic sound echoed off the walls.

"I can tell."

"Anything from Ryo or Cye?"

Sage closed his eyes and shook his head, "Nothing…" He glanced back at her, "I can sense Rowen and the others ahead. Stay close but stay behind me. I'm not completely sure if I can do what you've suggested but I know I can do something similar."

* * *

No matter how hard she tried the chains just never seemed to get at the neck of this monster. At least Kento had managed to trap it by bringing the earth up from the floor to shackle its feet. They had been able to do a decent amount of damage after that but the cockatrice was still alive.

"Was it thing this persistent last time?" The white haired man glanced at the Ronin of Strata.

"Yes," He answered drawing out another arrow, "I'm starting to question if it feels pain at all." Before he could loosen the arrow, the beast swept tis tail along the ground; knocking Rowen into Sekhmet then sending both of them into the wall.

Raising its tail again, the cockatrice slammed it on the ground, narrowly missing Cale and creating crater. Kento tried to entrap the tail as he did with the feet but the creature was too fast. As it raised its tail again Rowen's arrow found its mark as it ripped through the flesh. The screech that came from the best was deafening.

Kayura managed to move the chains around its beak, slamming the creatures mouth down on itself. It shook its head violently trying to get the chain off.

"Pull it down!" Dais called.

"I can't!" Kayura replied, "It's moving too much!"

_Rowen! Shoot off an arrow at it_!

"Move back!" The archer drew back, _Here comes a high flyer._ Losing the arrow it flew high into the air, just feet below the ceiling when a streak of bright ball lightening shot from the other side to meet it. The attack combination hit the cockatrice in the center of the back. It broke the chains around its mouth as it cried out again before falling to the side shaking violently.

"Sage!" Kento called out.

"Where's Sileny?" Rowen asked.

"I'm around the corner!" She replied, "Where's Rachel?"

"She's back in the hallway!" He replied.

Sage held his sword tightly, his eyes not leaving this cockatrice creature. When it began to stand he gave Kento and Rowen a look, then nodded once as he began to lift his sword high.

Sekhmet, who was closes to Rachel looked to her, "Rachel look away or cover your eyes."

That was all the warning she was given before the area was flooded with a blinding light.


	29. Chapter 29

**N/A:** A two chapter update! I hope everyone is enjoying this story. :)

* * *

**Power**

Chapter Twenty Nine

* * *

When the light finally dimmed a few seconds later, Rachel was shocked to see that not only was the cockatrice dead-it was a skeleton. "Oh my god…"

"Damn."

Sage lowered his sword and stared, "Holy shit."

"Too bad I beat you here first," Kento half joked, "You could have killed it sooner and we'd all be for the better."

"I wouldn't have known to do that though if Sileny hadn't told me too," He admitted as she walked up beside him.

"No one seriously hurt?" She asked.

"We're all fine," Cale answered.

Rachel darted across the room and hugged her best friend, "What about you two?" She asked looking between Sileny and Sage.

The blonde nodded, "We're fine. We didn't run into any trouble on our way."

"Three down and two to go," Sekhmet commented. "Do you three have any idea where Ryo or Cye might be?"

The trio shook their heads.

"I keep trying to reach out to them," the blonde said, "I'm not sure how to put this but I know they hear me they just can't answer.." a dark distant look came to his eyes.

Kento picked up on it, "We'll find them. Just keep at it buddy."

"I hate to-what's the expression-rain on the parade here," Cale started, "But we aren't even sure where to start looking. This will take a long time and the four of us need a rest."

"We can walk slow," Kayura looked from him to Rachel, "You still have the compass right?"

"Um..." Rachel reached into her hoodie pocket and pulled out what was left of the compass.

"What the hell happened to it?" Sileny asked with wide eyes.

"Well I fell through the ceiling and it had to have broken when I landed. Honestly I'm shocked my skull didn't break open, I landed on a cement floor." She put the broken remains back into her pocket, "I'm not sure it was working anyways."

"Me either," The older girl agreed. Pointed to Sage with her thumb she added, "We passed his room _twice_."

"Wait what?" Cale was genuinely surprised.

"My room was by the grand staircase you passed by twice." Sage answered, "I never heard or sensed you guys though."

Kento crossed his arms, "The girls got as far as my room before the floor gave out under them. I didn't sense them either but I heard them scream when they fell."

"_You_ were on the other side of that wall?" When he nodded the Swedish girl looked up to Rowen.

"I was in the room above the conservatory." He paused, "Wait did you land in Sage's cell?"

"It was in his lap to be exact."

The blonde nodded, "Yes it was. Thanks to that I was able to move again."

"Sure you land in the room with the one we were looking for first," Kayura gave an exasperated sigh.

"Hey!"

"Chill Kento, finding you and Rowen is a very, very, very, happy bonus." Sileny explained, "We went looking for you first," she looked at Sage, "Because you're the only one who can talked to everyone."

"Good idea," Rowen admitted, "But-no offence-that's not working out so well."

"Maybe we can find clues in the cell that held Kento since it's closest," the white haired warrior suggested.

"I am not going back in there." Kento glared, "its small and the incense that was lit in there make room stink like hell. Besides there isn't much in there."

"There wasn't much in my room either," The archer added, "The seat they put me on and a little table that… that also had incense burning on it." He looked at Sage, "Your room too?"

He nodded, "The burner the incense was in broke when Sileny fell in. You think that has something to do with it?"

"It's possible. If it was just us in the room with that stuff."

"What did it smell like?" Sekhmet asked, "Maybe I can help. It wouldn't be unusual for incense to be used as a drug."

"I don't know how to describe it."

"Me either."

"I do," Sileny put her hands on her hips, "It was like a woman wearing too much of that really strong expensive perfume."

Kento gave her a thumbs up, "Perfect analogy."

"Then yes that's probably what was keeping us from sensing you and vise versa," The poison warrior added, "I learned how to use drugs in incense long before meeting Talpa. It was a useful trick to subdue an enemy's senses or even kill them without getting my hands dirty. How did you all get out of your rooms?"

"I heard the girls scream and I wanted to go help them, next thing I heard was the sound of the incense burner breaking. After that I was able to move and open my eyes."

"I heard mine break too after hearing Kayura and the vampire fighting."

"I think Sileny and I broke the one in my cell after we fell over."

"If you two just knocked it over then how did these two-"

Rowen interrupted the other blue haired warrior, "Kento probably broke his and didn't realize it. These burners are ceramic which is from the earth. Kento arguably has the strongest protective instinct out of all of us since he's the eldest in a big family. I bet that's how his broke."

Kento grinned.

"That makes sense but what about you?"

He shrugged.

"Air pressure," Sileny offered. When they looked at her she added, "If Rowen's theory about Kento is right there's no reason it wouldn't work for him too. You all have a protective instinct and you did hear Kayura fighting and wanted to help. So if Kento's earth ability can break the burner there's no reason you couldn't do the same with air pressure."

"I'll buy that," Sage looked between the two, "However this means we have to find Ryo and Cye, break into their rooms and destroy the burners. Cye can't do it on his own and I can't see Ryo doing it either unless he somehow sets the room on fire."

Sekhmet blinked, "Lets hope Wildfire does not do that, that could backfire and cause the drug to kill him."

The three Ronin glared in silence.

"Moving on!" Rachel voiced loudly, "Lets move away from this place…" she glanced uneasily at the skeleton, "We have our friends to find and no real clue what else we might run into."

"Rachel is right," Dais agreed. "The other two hallways are still blocked, either Kento moves the rubble or we go back the way we came."

"If we split up we could cover more ground," Cale suggested. "One group heads back and the other tries one of the two hallways."

Kayura shook his head, "I don't think splitting up is the best idea. We can be a stronger force if we stay together. Besides Rachel and Sileny need protection, we can't protect them efficiently if we are in a smaller group."

_The truth hurts_, Rachel looked down.

"You three decide," Sileny looked at the Ronin. "Do we go forward or head back?"

"Since Rowen was on a different floor there's no reason to think Cye and Ryo aren't either," the Ronin of Hardrock said, "I think we should go back and try one of those grand staircases you guys passed."

"That's something I can actually agree with," Sage nodded.

"I'm for it," Rowen agreed. "If we don't find anything we can always come back this way and try again."

"Right, lets go then," Cale began walking, "We don't know how long this will take."

"I'll keep trying to get ahold of Ryo and Cye," Sage fell in step with his former rival.

The group moved together back down the hallway, Rachel and Sileny ended up in the middle of everyone it would just be easier for them to be protected that way. Sage and Cale took up the lead, Kento and Rowen walked on either side of Rachel and Sileny, while Dais, Sekhmet, and Kayura brought up the rear. All the warriors had reverted to wearing their subarmor since it was easier and quieter to move around in.

A thought struck the young German girl, "Sekhmet?"

"Yes?"

She looked back at him, "What would this incense drug do to Cye since he is still recovering?"

"I don't know for sure, though it is likely to stall his healing from the manticor poison." He looked thoughtful, "How are you three fairing with your wounds? That could give us a better answer."

"We weren't the ones poisoned," Kento said, "I feel fine by the way."

Kayura jumped in, "No but you three did get severely injured-Sage even went to the hospital."

"I'm fine," the blonde said.

"So am I."

Cale glanced at them, "Maybe when we stop at the stair case, the doctor and her assistant should have a look at you three or even all of us."

"I don't have anything here to-"

"If we stop and take off our subarmors we'll be venerable." Rowen stated. "Haytie just lost three of his soldiers and three of us are awake and moving. If he's half as possessive as they said he was I don't think he's going to just sit back and let us just walk around."

"I know you guys are tired," Rachel said, "But Rowen is right. And in any case I don't have anything here to tend your wounds with. No one here looks or acts badly injured-I'm more concerned with Cye's condition right now if this drug is stalling his healing or making things worse."

"I will examine Cye when we find him," Sekhmet said. "Now as I was saying earlier, since these three don't feel any different it is entirely possible that Cye and Ryo are just fine. At the same time I do agree with Cale, Rachel should look at your injuries."

"But I just said-"

"I know you can't do anything for them-and I'm not asking you three to get into your street clothes all at once either-I think you can at least look at them to see if they are healing properly since you are the only one who's seen all their injuries from this war. It would be good to see if the drug has affected them unknowingly since it will affect their fight." He saw Strata getting ready to argue, "If it is then that will put Ryo at a disadvantage too because of his arm. He can't use both his swords with an injured arm."

The energy between them grew tense.

"When we get to the stairs Rachel and I will look at you three one at a time and very quickly. Then we are moving up and on with this."

Rowen glared and looked at her "Sileny-"

Azure eyes glared death up at him, "_**What**_?"

"…Never mind." He glared ahead of him.

_I don't like it either Rowen_, Sage said to him, _We have to do it anyways_.


	30. Chapter 30

A/N: Single chapter update and this is most likely the longest chapter yet in this fic. Wow. I want to thank my readers for sticking with me thing long. I know I'm not the best at grammar, so sorry and thanks for dealing with it. Please R&R, feedback helps me greatly.

* * *

**Power**

Chapter Thirty

* * *

They made it to the grand staircase with no trouble. The warlords positioned themselves as look outs as the trio of Ronin stood with the two girls.

"Who's up first…?" Rachel asked unsure.

"I'll go," Sage stepped forward, his subarmor gave way to his street clothes.

She nodded. Out of the three of them Sage had suffered the most injuries. Watching him lift his shirt, she remembered what his chest looked like the last time. It was not what she saw. Her brow frowned and her eyes got wide.

"Is it bad?" Kento asked.

"Um… there's nothing there…"

"What?" He put a hand on his chest and looked down. Nothing. No scars, no wounds, nothing. It looked like nothing had ever happened.

"Let me see your shoulder," she walked over helped him pull his shirt down and sure enough, "It's gone."

"How's that possible?" Kayura asked.

"I don't… could your armors have done this?"

Sage shrugged, "I don't think so."

"Not unless it's a new thing." Kento said.

"You next," Rachel looked at him.

The blonde donned his subarmor just as Kento took his off. It was the same as with Sage, all his injuries had been healed. Rowen's too.

"Okay unless your armors have learned a new trick I've no idea how this is possible," Rachel admitted.

"Your armors never did that before," Dais mused more to himself, "I know the ones you used to wear didn't either. Ours certainly don't."

Kento, who had returned to his subarmor looked at Sileny, "Do you have any idea? You seem to have a lot of answers for things like this."

"I don't have an answer for this one."

_She can't have the answer for everything_, Rowen thought, "Since the three of us are fine, then it would stand to reason that Ryo and Cye are too."

"Good then after we find them we can all get the hell out of here faster!"

"Key words there are finding them, Kento."

"While we are here…" Rachel looked at her friend, "Let me see your hand."

Rowen looked at her, "What happened to your hand?"

"I didn't notice anything," Sage admitted as he looked at the girls.

Sileny muttered something in Swedish before surrendering her injured hand to her friend.

There was a clear scrape from where the rocks had hurt her and some dried blood on her skin. "Looks fine to me."

"Sil."

"Some rocks fell from the wall and scratched my hand, I'm fine Rowen."

"We should move," Dais said in a warning tone.

"What is it?" Rachel asked in a low voice.

The warrior of darkness squinted, "Large dogs."

_Oh not those things again_! Kento donned his armor and drew his weapon, "If it's the same ones we fought before they can merge into a dog bigger than the cockatrice."

Sage looked at Rachel and Sileny, "If we run can you two keep up?"

"We can try."

"I think I know a way to buy us a little time," Rowen drew his bow and arrow from the air, _Hey Dais you think those webs of yours can grasp my arrow_?

Dais smirked and pulled out his kamas, _Easily_. _This won't buy us much time_.

_I've got another part of this plan._ He glanced at Sage before losing his arrow. Dais let out the kamas, the ends sunk into the wall sending the webs over the hiding hounds.

"Move it!"

Everyone in the group darted up the stairs. When they reached the top, Kento whirled around and slammed his weapon down; the stairs crumbled and flew at the hounds. No one really bothered to see if it did any damage. Instead they made a hard left and continued running.

_Are they following_? Kayura asked.

_Yes_, Cale replied, _I can sense them in the shadows moving. They are still back there but moving._

_There's a door up there, let's try it_. Sage suggested.

The first three doors were locked, yet they managed to get into the fourth door with no trouble at all. Everyone flooded into the room as Kento and Sekhmet closed the door.

_Hopefully they don't realize we are in here_. Sage looked at his two friends then ahead, "Whoa." It was more like a giant indoor lake than a room. Balls of light floated in the air giving off the only light in the room, however dull it really was. From what he could see it stretched on for a long ways. There was a wide raised path down the middle of the lake and along either side.

"It's huge," Kento stared.

"Do you think there's another way out?" Kayura asked in a low voice. "If we go out the way we came we might run into those hounds again. And it looked like there were too many."

"We could take them down," Kento replied.

Sage glared, "Kento! Did you forget what that pack turns into? That giant thing is bigger than the cockatrice and we've no idea how to defeat it."

"And that giant thing was hard enough for five of us to handle, I don't think we can do much better with seven." Rowen added.

Kento looked at Sileny hoping she might know but she just shrugged, "All I can say is black hounds or wolves are death omens in Western Lore. I don't know a way of defeating them."

"Look we have two option either we hold out here for a bit and hope the hounds don't find us, or we start walking and see if there is another way out."

"Neither option sounds very good…" Kayura stared at the water.

"I don't think we're in a position to be picky," Cale looked at her.

"We don't even know if there is a way out."

"Rowen, could you fly ahead and see?" Rachel looked at him.

"I can try but I'm not sure how far I would get. And I don't really want anyone out of my sight."

"SHH!" Dais pointed to the door and motioned for everyone to be quiet. They could hear growling and footprints on the other side.

_We move_, Sage told the others. He nudged Rachel and Sileny to the side and they all quietly began walking down the path to the side of the lake. The pathway was a little narrower than the hallways outside had been, it was more like walking along a sidewalk. Even as they left the doorway in there wasn't any sign of the ending of the water.

There was something really unnerving about this room.

"It looks like something's moving in the water…" Kayura said slowly.

"Fantastic, we found a giant mythical fish bowel," Sileny sighed exasperated.

Kento laughed nervously, "Anything you girls think we should be really worried about?"

Rachel shifted uneasily beside her friend, "Well we don't know how deep it goes. The most deadly sea or water creature I know if the Kraken." She paused, "Sileny isn't some sort of sea serpent in Norse myth?"

Azure eyes widened, "You mean the Jormangandr? I doubt it'd be here. That thing's supposed to be as long as the planet."

"I've heard of that sea serpent from Mia," Sage said, "But the Kraken?"

"It's the giant octopus or squid to end all others. Legends say it would swallow ancient war ships whole."

"Do you think it could be in there?" Sekhmet asked.

"Really anything could be in there, from the Loch Ness Monster, to a cetus, to a friggin' mermaid for all I know."

"Cetus?"

Before she could give an answer, a large carp like fish the size of an orca jumped out of the water and dived back in on the other side of the bridge in the center.

"…That could be one." Sileny answered uneasily her voice going high.

"Holy shit!" Sage gaped.

Cale's eyes widened, "What he said!"

Rowen looked at the girls, "Rachel?" She was looking at the way they came in, he followed her gaze, "Damn it the hounds!"

"What?" Kayura whirled round, the hounds where coming through the door like ghosts. She saw them sniffing the ground before spotting their targets and howling loudly.

"What should we do?" Rachel asked as she began to slowly back up.

Sekhmet drew out a sword, "We'll have to fight eventually we can't run from them forever."

"We don't have room to fight," Dais pointed out.

"I don't think anyone has a choice." Sage tried again to reach out to Cye. Nothing.

The hounds ran along the path towards the group, a few strayed to the water, running on the surface. Another large carp like fish breached the surface and swallowed up ten of the hounds while before it fell sideways back into the water. A wave washed over the other hounds, dragging more into the water while others kept running.

Kento had tried to shield them from the water but there hadn't been enough earth to move. The wave swept over them, knocking them back. This water was freezing cold and he could feel it through his armor. It took him a second to realize that when they got knocked back by the wave, they all ended up in the water. _SHIT_! He could see the other carps, cetus's or whatever they were swimming in the water. Lucky for them, they all swam to the hounds.

With the hounds distracted, the group began to swim back to the shore when-

"WHA!"

A large reptilian head rose out of the water, taking all three girls and Dais up with it. Rachel almost slid off the side of the head until Dais managed to catch her. The quartet was high in the air, and the creature made a high pitched call.

Rowen stared, _that thing looks like a dinosaur-wait a second_, he knew this monster, "Holy shit is that the Lock Ness?!" If so it was a hell of a lot bigger than anyone ever thought.

The creature looked down to them, everyone on its head slid forward. It opened his mouth and made a softer noise. Then it noticed the hounds and large carps again and bolted forward to them. In the wake it caused the group still in the water was separated. Kento, Rowen and Sekhmet ended up over by the center bridge; whereas Sage and Cale got slammed against the wall where they had been before they all ended up in the water.

When it launched forwards, the quartet got launched backwards, sliding down the back of the neck and into the water before the wake separated them too.

"Are you alright?" Dais asked the girl in his arm. They had wound up on the same side as Sage and Cale-who now ran over to them.

Rachel nodded as she shivered from the cold of the water, "I think so." She looked at the creature they had reluctantly taken a ride on, "I'm pretty sure that was Nessie."

"Rowen thinks the same," Sage said helping them up. When they were safely up he looked across the lake to see both Sileny and Kayura had also made it to shore.

"Are they all okay?" She asked shivering under her cold soaked clothes.

Sage nodded, "They're fine."

Six of the hounds somehow got out from all the chaos of the feeding frenzy, making a be-line for them.

Sage pulled Rachel to his side and felt her shift to behind him, "We'll have to fight."

"Rachel, pull out that sword you might need it." Cale ordered as he took out his own sword.

There was a whistling sound coming from the side. Rachel spotted it and gripped hold of the armored shoulders of her friend just as the arrow hit the wall about seven feet in front of them. The blast knocked back the hounds, and killed a few too. She peered around her friend and saw something that made her stomach drop, "Oh no…"

"What is it?" Cale asked.

Rachel pointed to the wall where the arrow struck, her hand moving quickly as a crack began moving up the wall. She head Sage take a sharp before he snapped his head in the direction of the archer. Even if he didn't say anything verbally Rachel had a pretty good idea what was being said mentally.

The crack ran all the way up the wall and hit the ceiling, for a minute nothing happened. Then a large part of the ceiling cracked and fell into the water. Sage had managed to shield her from the debris but they all got drenched again from the waves. So much fell into the water all at once it was unbelievable.

_I'm doing to die of hypothermia if we don't get out of here soon_! She had been freezing before now with the onslaught of waves she was so cold it hurt. _Aren't they cold_? She wondered glancing at the warriors beside, they seemed just fine. Her eyes drifted across the water once the waves stopped.

Kento and Kayura where glaring daggers at Rowen, even across the lake Rachel could see that. And the zombie killing look Sileny gave him from behind. She could also tell that Sileny was also freezing just from the way she sat on the ground.

The room became very quiet. Whether it was the creatures or Rowen's arrow that killed the hounds, Rachel really didn't care. She couldn't see anything left of the hounds or the water creatures.

"Rachel?" Sage could feel her shaking, "What's wrong?"

She opened her mouth to answer when the Nessie shot its head out of the water again. Something was dangling from its mouth… no not dangling. Hanging onto… Rachel smiled a bit when she finally caught sight of blue. "Is that…?"

"Cye!" Kento shouted from the other side.

The Ronin of Water was hanging onto his trident which was halfway inside Nessie's mouth. He blinked when he realized where he was, "Guys!"


	31. Chapter 31

Power

Chapter Thirty One

* * *

They left the room through a large door on the other side. Just like they all thought, Cye felt completely fine-better in fact than he had in a while. There had been a slew of questions once he saw both Rachel and Sileny. The whole group had given him an update on the situation up until they had entered the room.

"Hopefully we can find someplace warm for these two," Rowen glanced over at the girls with a sting of guilt in his eyes. He was too concerned with saving his friends to think the arrow would have caused that much damage. _At least we found Cye quickly_, he thought.

Rachel gave him a small smile, "We know you didn't mean to Rowen." She had taken off her hoodie, now draped in her arms, the sweater she had been wearing underneath was warm but thin fabric. Her arms wrapped around herself trying to keep warm… and a sense of dignity.

Sileny was behind her, rubbing Rachel's arms for her to help keep her arm. The Swedish girl was freezing too but she hadn't got nearly the shower that her best friend had. "I don't think we're really going to find a warm spot or a fire, but if we do it would be nice."

Cye rubbed the back of his head and looked at them, "I wish I know how to get water out of clothes…"

"There's a goal for you when we get out of here," Rachel offered him the smile. _I'm so cold_.

"As long as we keep moving they should be alright," Sekhmet said with a ping of concern.

Kayura paused and glanced down at her armor, _Hm_…

"Cye when you were in your cell," Cale looked at him, "Was there a really strong and sickening smell in there?"

He nodded, "Yeah it was pretty over powering too. You guys have the same thing?"

Sage nodded, "From what we can put together the enemy is using a drug in the incense they light in the rooms to keep us immobile and from others sensing us or the other way around."

"Well that has to be true. I didn't sense you guys but I did hear the battle going on below me and I was pretty sure it was you guys. But how will we find Ryo? We don't have White Blaze or even Black Blaze to find a scent."

Dais nodded, "True.. and the smell of the incense doesn't leave the rooms." He glanced over and arched an eyebrow, "Kayura what are you doing?"

She pulled the jinbaori* off her armor slowly, she hadn't even been sure it would come off. "I'm going to help my frozen friends." Kayura walked over to Rachel and Sileny, "Um.. it's not very warm nor does it have sleeves but it should help."

Sileny smiled, "You wear it Rachel."

"Is.. is that okay?" The younger girl asked unsure. She wondered if Kayura knew that this might not really help her at all, clothes only helped maintained body temperature. But it wasn't like she was going to turn her down.

"It's fine," Kayura smiled. Sileny moved aside, crossing her arms over her chest. Kayura puts her jinbaori around the girls shoulders, "Just a little big for you is all."

Rachel gave a thankful yet awkward smile, "Thanks." This was sweet and weird all at the same time, she made herself stand up a little straighter and adjusted the jinbaori. Yes it was a little big on her but it was made to cover armor, not a petite half frozen girl. She could feel the warmth in it and wasn't sure if that had been because Kayura had donned her armor after they left the room or not. Or if it was the magic in the armor.

Somehow the image here of Rachel standing with the jinbaori of the Cruelty Armor covering her did not sit right with Sage. He had no real idea why either. Putting something like that on the girls was actually a good idea. The jinbaori may not have had any sleeves, but it was big enough that it covered Rachel's shoulders and her torso, falling just above her knees. It would certainty warm her up… so why was this rubbing him so wrong?

_It's not like it will turn into a jackal and bite her_ a small voice said in the back of his mind. His eyes drifted to the sword Sekhmet had leant her that was still sheathed by her belt.

"You're welcome," Kayura smiled.

Kento wasn't nearly as bothered by this as Sage was, "Is it helping?" He asked. _Why didn't we think of that_? He glanced from her to Sileny then back.

Rachel nodded, "I don't feel as cold."

"Lets keep moving," Sileny said, "Before something else finds us."

The Ronin of Hardock nodded then, "Hey Sileny do you wa-"

Flop.

The Swedish girl blinked feeling the weight of the fabric cover her shoulders. What the? She looked to see a haori-no a jinbaori-covering her like an oversized jacket. Unlike the one Kayura gave to Rachel, this one had sleeves and drowned her. She looked to see Rowen standing beside her.

Wait was this his jinbaori? Sileny knew the guys had them but she had never actually seen them. "Um thanks."

"You're welcome," He said casually.

* * *

The images of the intruders and his prizes played on the glass orbs like multiple television screens. Haytie had seen it all. From when Marijke found the intruders to when those three girls got separated.

He had seen the goth(*) running from the manticore and her attempt to defend herself before one of his prizes escaped and saved her life. Annoyance had filled him when the manticore fell in battle, it would be a challenge to find another. He was just as annoyed as he watched the two rejoin the intruders and fight the cockatric.

Annoyance turned to anger after he saw the shield maiden(*) break the hold on another prize. That anger grew when he noticed the vampire had been killed by the third prize and the female samurai. By the time they had killed the cockatrice, Haytie was feeling more anger than he had in a very long time. Ages in fact.

That was when he had sent the hounds after them. He had not expected them to find that room with the lake, and his anger had begun slipping into a rage after his fourth prize was released.

"This is becoming a real bother." His eyes drifted to the orb that held the image of his final prize, "If all five are loosed this will become difficult indeed." Stroking his chin he glanced to the trolls, "Go out and be sure they don't get close to this one. Kill the intruders if you must, but try limiting the damage on my prizes. I will send someone shortly to assist."

The trolls all bowed before marching out the door.

* * *

"It's a library," Cye said as he looked into the room. He and Kento had been struggling to open the huge double doors for a good ten minutes before they finally gave way.

"_Damn_." Rowen looked at the library before him.

"Should we go in?" Kento looked around.

"I think we should," Cale answered. They needed a little rest and a chance to really form a plan of attack. And at least try to figure out how they could find Ryo.

The group entered the room, once all inside the doors closed behind them… all by themselves. At the same time the candles on the walls all lit up filling the whole room with light and a fire pit in the center burst to life.

Sileny gripped the fabric of the jinbaori, "Yeah-that's not creepy at all."

Rachel let out a nervous groan beside her as her eyes gazed longingly at the fire pit.

"Creepy as hell," Cye agreed, "But let's take advantage of it." He was tired of walking and he knew the girls needed this heat, at this rate they'd get sick. They walked to the fire pit and sat around it on the ground.

Rachel sat closest to the fire, laid out her hoodie and extended her hands out to the fire. The warmth felt so good she could have cried. She felt someone sit directly behind her before a pair of arms wrapped around her, "Thanks Sileny."

Cye sat between Rachel and Kento, neither boy as close to the fire, "Sage have you been able to…?" He looked across from him.

The blonde shook his head, "No. I still can't get to him," He hated this feeling having experienced it once in his life time already, "I'm not sure if he can hear me or not when I try or if he just can't answer me."

"Could any of you hear each other from before?" Saekhmet glanced around.

Rowen, who sat between Sage and Dais, answered first, "Sort of. I knew someone was trying to talk to me but I couldn't hear anything or tell who it was."

Cye nodded in agreement.

Sage also nodded, "Same. That's likely what's going on with Ryo then."

"How are we going to find him?" Rachel asked, "If you guys can't sense him or talk with him mentally…"

"We'll just have to keep looking," Kento answered. "Trying all the doors or maybe Rowen can cave in a few other ceilings."

"Don't tempt me," The taller boy warned, "I didn't mean for that to happen the first time but if it will get us out of here faster I just _might_."

"I'd be more than happy to help with that," Kayura added, "Who knows how long we've been here. You guy's have been out for a month, or all we know it's been a few days."

Cye groaned and rubbed his forehead, "This isn't going to be easy to explain when we get back."

Sileny looked at him, "We told your shop landlord that you had to go home because your mother was having surgery and you'd be back as soon as she was well enough."

He slowly turned his head to them, not sure just how to react.

She shrugged, "Hey it was all I could think to tell her. We've been going to your guy's homes too, just to make it look like you guys are still there and to see if you ever came back."

"What about the rest of…" he trailed off.

"Well Satsuki knows, so does Kento's parents but that's really it."

The group got quiet after that for a while. Rachel's eyes felt heavy and everything was caching up to her, still she didn't dare sleep. She was too cold and the last thing she wanted was to scare her friends. Although she was warmer than she had been a few hours ago, she still couldn't feel her feet and was just now getting feeling back into her hands.

Taking her eyes from the fire she glanced around at her friends. They all looked to be deep in thought and from what she could see Cye and Sage where having a mental conversation. She knew Sileny was awake without looking back at her.

"Kayura."

She looked over at Sileny, "Yes?"

"Is there a way you can find Ryo with your…" she paused and shrugged, "Ancient powers?"

All eyes turned to the blue haired girl.

"Well, I do know of one spell-but to do it I'd need something that belongs to him or of his blood or something similar to him."

"Wait a sec," Kento looked at Rachel then back to Kayura, "Rachel has her keys and one of them is to Ryo's apartment."

Rachel sat up, "Would that work?"

"I don't know. I mean he gave it to you so it doesn't belong to him anymore."

Dais looked at her, "When you say similar, what does that mean?"

"The texts that Talpa took from my clan are like giant riddles, that being said I think similar would mean a zodiac sign or element."

Sileny arched an eyebrow, "Pray tell which sign?"

"It didn't say, why?"

"If it's the Chinese zodiac you've got four guys here under the same sign." Cale motioned to Sage, Cye, Kento, and Rowen.

"And if it's western?" Sekhmet asked, "I don't think we'd have that kind of luck."

"Oh but we do," Sileny looked down at her best friend who's eyes had widened a bit upon realization.

"Right," Cye nodded, "You're birthday is around the same time as Ryo's you're both under Leo the Lion."

Rowen looked down at Rachel, "You're probably the best option."

"Because they are both under this lion?" Sekhmet asked looked puzzled, "There I still the four of-"

"Yes _however_ Leo is a fire sign. Rachel is the same sign as Ryo and therefore she's also a fire element." Rowen pointed out.

Kayura looked at the youngest girl, "Rachel?"

She wondered why she felt so uneasy about this. "Okay."

"This spell of yours...It's not going to hurt her or anything is it?" Sage asked.

"No I don't think so." Kayura stood and walked over to the girls, Cye and Kento moved to make room or her. "Let me see your strong hand."

Rachel held out her left hand which Kayura took in her own "Now what?"

"I need you to think about Ryo and nothing else," she answered "I don't think it matters if you recall memories or just what he looks like so long as it's just him."

Sileny was doing her best to hide a smile, _Oh that shouldn't be too hard for her_.

Nodding Rachel began to think of Ryo. His face, voice, his kindness, the way he looked out for his friends… she could hear Kayura murmuring something under her breath. Gazing at the fire the auburn haired girl remembered the first time she saw him in his armor and how scared she had been.

How scared he was.

Everything that happened between them the next day. And the days that had followed.

And how much she wanted to see him again.

The fire roared in the pit and rose high. Everyone moved back as the flames licked at the air before they morphed into a shape. A shape like a building blue print.

"Is that a map…?" Sage asked stunned.

"Holy shit." Rachel stared.

Kayura blinked, "That was fast…"

Cye stood and looked at the firey map, "Hey… look in this box there's ten little flames that must be us."

"So that means…" Kento and the others looked to a box with a single flame high on the other side of the map. "That's gotta be Ryo!"

"Now we know where he is," Sage smiled and looked at Rachel who returned the smile.

"We just don't know how long it will take us to get way over there," Dais remarked and followed the lines of the map with his eye, "Or what awaits us." He looked at his hand and was able to create an illusion copy of the map only smaller.

The fire died back down to its original size.

"Should we head out then?" Cye asked.

Cale looked at the unarmored girls, "You two okay to keep going?"

They nodded, "Let's just get Ryo and get out of here." Sileny said.

* * *

A/N: So quick notes. You saw the little stars by words in this chapter? Well if my research is right a jinbaori is the harori or jacket that goes over samurai armor, they traditionally only wore them on special occasions. Secondly when Haytie thinks of Rachel as a goth it's not the goth all dressed in black and stuff, it's the historical kind. The goths are a tribe from Germany in ancient times-these are the barbarians who saked Rome. Third, when Haytie thinks of Sileny as a shield maiden that's harkening to viking terms, they called the women who could fight shield maidens and since Sileny is from Sweden which is apart of Scandinavia it works for her like goth does for Rachel. And now you've had a history lesson in your fanfic reading! As always please R&R - we are getting close to the boss fight!


	32. Chapter 32

**Power**

Chapter Thirty Two

* * *

They rounded the corner and slumped against the wall.

Sileny swallowed as she tried to catch her breath. Just where had all those trolls come from? There had been so many of them. All different sizes even. The guys had fought as many as they could but soon became overwhelmed and they all ran. And got separated of course.

"Sil are you okay?"

She looked up at him, "I think so. You?"

Rowen nodded a bit. "Did you understand anything those trolls said? I know Rachel did."

"Nothing I feel like repeating." She leaned her head back against the wall, "How far are we from the others?"

He paused a minute, "Kento is with Kayura, they are closest to us. I think I can feel Sage nearby too."

"Everyone did go in separate directions then."

"Looks that way; how can we kill trolls? Just in case you and I run into them on the way to meet the others."

Azure eyes looked at his bow, "There's really so set way to kill them so just blow the up." Her eyes then found his face, "If you can just warn me before you do."

The warrior one nodded then blinked when she handed him back the jinbaori. "Sil you're still damp, I can tell."

"Rowen I am as dry and warm as I'm going to get here. And if we do run into trolls or something else I want to be able to grab this sword quicker without ruining this."

He let out a sigh and took it back; watching it fade back into the air. "You know how to swing the sword if you need to?"

"Not very well," She admitted. "Why do you know how to use a sword?" An orange eyebrow arched, "Because I've never seen you do it."

He shook his head; armor giving way to subarmor. He could move quieter next to her this way, easier too. "I'm just asking because I'm worried about you. You're my friend Sil, but unlike Rachel you haven't had any fighting training."

_All the good that's done her here_, the Swedish girl thought, "I know you're worried. I know you all are, everyone keeps looking at us with nothing but worry."

"You two are-"

She interrupted him, "Not wearing magic armor, not skilled in fighting, freezing cold, tired as hell, and seriously hoping we can all get out of here soon."

Yes. Rowen had known from the second he saw both the girls how bad this was. Sileny had just freely admitted to feeling exactly how he knew they must be feeling. Except, "You didn't say scared."

Sileny's eyes grew wide, "Scared? Touma we're _terrified_." She smiled a bit as his reaction, though she wasn't sure I it was because he used his true name or admitted to being scared. "Rachel's far more afraid than I am. However I'm far more pissed off than she is." Leaning completely against the stone wall behind her, she closed her eyes and let out an aggravated sigh.

Something was stirring inside of him, Rowen just wasn't sure what. Nor was he sure what made him say, "Sileny you don't have to put on the brave face with me. You've been wearing that since Sage killed the cockatrice." He moved and stood in front of her.

Her eyes opened slowly and she tilted her head, "What makes you think that I'm wearing my brave face for you? I'm wearing it for me."

There was a strange edge to his voice, "I am _not_ going to let anything happen to you."

"I know that."

A silence fell between them. His midnight eyes never left her face. It hurt in a way he hadn't felt before to see her like this. Rowen was so used to seeing Sileny strong now he could see her fighting to be strong. He did not like that. He'd seen Ryo do it too many times and it never sat well with him. The only difference was Ryo fought to be strong for them, Sileny was fighting to be strong for herself and very likely Rachel too.

The warrior of the air didn't like seeing her look so tired and upset either. It made his urge to protect her grow larger. And it was coming from a place he hadn't known existed.

"What?" She finally asked.

"Nothing." He looked around, "Lets go."

Sileny leaned off the wall and followed him, "If Kento and Kayura are together, then where is everyone else?"

"Sage is with Cale and Cye, and Dais is with Sekhmet…" He stopped abruptly. _Oh no_… he slowly looked down at Sileny and he saw the fear rise in her eyes.

"Where's Rachel?!"

* * *

Kento cursed loudly, "Kayura if that's a joke!"

"I would _**NOT**_ lie about this!" She answered, her voice cracking. "Sileny is with Rowen but no one knows where Rachel is."

Fear and rage began to build up inside the Ronin of Hardrock. She could see it and felt her own rising up to join him. Rachel and Sileny had been the only friends she had managed to make in this new world and she couldn't express how angry she had been in the first place when they had been brought here.

Kento hated this with a deep passion. Rachel was another little sister he had taken under his wing and he knew how scared she was even if she hadn't said so herself. He was scared too, for her and all his friends. Right now he was scared something bad would happen to her and how they'd have to tell Ryo once they found him. He didn't think Ryo could take that a second time…

"Rowen and Sileny are close…" Kayura said quietly.

"Sileny's probably seething with anger."

"I can tell you Rowen sure is," the blue haired girl looked at him, "Sekhmet might be able to find her."

"What do you mean?"

"If Rachel still had his sword with her then he'll be able to pick up its energy and find her." Crossing her arms she added, "He claims he can sense where Sileny is because she still has his sword."

"Tell him to get his ass on that!"

"I did." She took a breath to try and keep calm; didn't work. "He says he can't sense it right now so they might be too far away. He and Dais will follow the map to Ryo and keep their eyes out for her."

"Can't you find her like you found Ryo?"

"If Sileny has something of hers then yes," she began walking towards the direction Rowen's energy was slowly drifting from, "But I don't think she does. I'll see if I can find her because she's still wearing my jinbaori though."

* * *

Sekhmet sighed, "I've told Kayura what we plan to do."

The white haired warrior nodded, "It's all we can do unfortunately. If you sense her then we will tell them and once we make it to Ryo we will tell them that too." He looked to the illusion of the map then back to their surroundings. "We've been here before."

"Yes we have. This isn't too far from where we first arrived."

"If I've thought things correctly then we aren't too far off course," Dais pointed on the map, "We're here."

The large eyed warrior looked over, "We're still not close to Wildfire but at least we aren't any further away."

_Sekhmet_. _Dais_.

_What is it Halo_? The Warlord of Venom thought he sounded unusually calm.

_Do not tell Ryo Rachel is missing_.

Dais raised an eyebrow and glanced to his comrade, _Why not? He will need to know and there's no way we can keep that from him_.

_He will freak out and we don't need that right now. So don't tell him just yet. Ryo will already get pissed when he learns she and Sileny are here in the first place. Just tell him we all got separated_.

_This is unlike you, keeping something from someone_.

_I don't like it but I have my reasons_.

The warlords exchanged a glance. They had a pretty good idea what the reasons had to be without asking. _Very well we won't tell him_.

* * *

Cye glared slightly at Sage for making this decision for them. No telling Ryo Rachel was here _and_ missing was not a good idea. But he did agree that it wasn't a good idea to keep it from him either. Maybe Sage though dealing with that anger later rather than sooner was a better option.

Or maybe he was just hoping they'd all find Rachel before they found Ryo.

"Cale can you sense were Rachel via Sekhmet's sword too?" Cye asked.

He shook his head "No. I tried but all I found was Sekhmet himself. Sekhmet is probably the only one who can do it since it is his weapon she has."

Sage cursed under his breath, "We should have kept a closer eye on her!"

"Halo we were heavily outnumbered," the warlord pointed out, "Rowen is likely only with Sileny out of dumb luck or the fact that she has his jinbaori on."

"That's not why." Sage didn't need both eyes to tell what was slowly going on between those two.

Cale looked amused, _Ah I see_.

Cye gripped his trident. Hadn't the all been through enough in this place yet? "Rachel was alone and saved once by Kento. Maybe Ryo can break free and find her on his own? They are drawn to each other like that."

* * *

_Oh gods…_ She stared at the silhouette on the wall of the far side of the hallway. Though she wasn't nearly as well versed in mythology as Sileny, she knew this was a Minotaur shadow. Pressing herself against the wall the girl tried to keep her breathing low as she slinked along the wall to a door.

The shadow was growing bigger as she could hear the hooves footsteps growing louder. Her hand found the door handle and gently jiggled it. It was unlocked.

Rachel pushed the door open and ran inside, flipping around she closed the door as quickly and quietly as she could. Leaning on the door she listened to the sounds on the other side.

Footsteps grew louder and she held her breath when they passed the door. It felt like an eternity until the footsteps had faded. She let out a long sigh of relief as she pressed her forehead against the door. _I don't know how much more of this shit I can take_!

She turned around to see where she was and sucked in the air when she saw something.


	33. Chapter 33

**Power**

Chapter Thirty Three

* * *

Footsteps. The door had opened-someone was inside but who? More footsteps but these sounded different. No someone was definitely in the room he heard a voice at least it sounded like a voice.

No. No someone was there! Whoever it was had run over to him. Then there was the sound of something ceramic breaking.

"Ryo!" Someone put their hands on his face.

His eyes shot open-he knew that voice. She was smiling at him, "Rachel."

"Ich fand Sei.." The girl leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug.

To say he was shocked to see her would be an understatement. Yet it would be a bigger understatement to say he wasn't happy to see her. His armor gave way to his subarmor and he wrapped his arms around her and pulls her closer until she was almost in his lap.

"I've no idea what you just said," he smiled against her shoulder.

"I said that I found you." Her voice was shaky and she rubbed her eyes before pulling away and sinking to the floor. Looking up at him she said, "You need to contact Sage and let him know you're free. Everyone's been looking for you."

_That's right I was captured… __**wait**_. "Rachel what are you doing here with the others? It's dangerous."

"Oh trust me I'm _well_ aware. Now contact Sage and I'll explain everything."

Ryo nodded. _Sage_.

_Ryo_! He sounded relieved and ecstatic. _You're able to move? Are you still in the room they had you in?_

_Yes and yes_. He kept his gaze on Rachel, hating how tired and just... defeated she looked. _Rachel's with me, she was able to make me move again_.

_Rachel is with you_?! It was Kento. _Thank god she's safe_! _Look, you guys just stay there and we'll head that way_.

Rowen joined in, _I've got Sileny with me-we'll all head your way Ryo. I can sense you now_.

_Same here_, Sage added, _Dais and Sekhmet can sense you too they're closest and should be there soon_.

"They're on their way, Sekhmet and Dais are closest." He got off the chair and sat down beside her. "Sileny is here too?"

Rachel nodded, "Kayura and the Warlords too. We… well we came with them."

"What? Rachel-"

"We didn't volunteer and they didn't drag us here, someone else brought us here with them."

"What about Black Blaze? He's supposed to be protecting you two."

"It's partly his fault that we are here." She shook her head and took a deep breath, "Let me explain."

Ryo still had a mountain of questions instead he gave a nod, "Okay tell me what happened."

Sky blue eyes looked at him, "A few days after I took you to the doctor for your arm, Dais and Cale came to see Sileny and I. They had been trying to contact you and the others with no luck. We went to your apartment and it looked like a battle zone."

_I bet_. He nodded a bit to let her know he was still listening.

"A month later-"

"A month?!" Tiger blue eyes widened.

"You five have been missing for a month. We kept looking for you guys and then a few days ago White Blaze…" She trailed off. _There's no way he's going to take this well_, "White Blaze had been captured too but he escaped… Ryo he was hurt really badly."

"How badly?"

"He appeared in our backyard with his fur soaked in blood-he's still alive," she added quickly seeing the rage in his face. Slowly she put her hand on his, "Marijke and those hounds had been tormenting him. Kayura came over to help up with him and she can talk to White Blaze and Black Blaze now. White Blaze said you all had been captured, though we had figured that much. Sileny asked Kayura and the others to form a rescue mission. They tried getting the kitsune to talk but she wouldn't tell them how to get here. Black Blaze knew a way."

"And?"

She leaned against the chair, "We met up with the Warlords at Aoikigahara. White Blaze went too, he acted very strange the whole way there like this wasn't something he wanted. He and Black Blaze lead the others into the forest while Sileny and I stayed behind. We went to the town and got a little snack and then we drove back to wait for White Blaze and Black Blaze to return. But instead after Sileny parked the car there was this blinding light and the next thing we knew we were in a huge room with the others."

"Both White Blaze and Black Blaze stayed behind?"

"Yes. For White Blaze it's probably for the best I mean he's alive but in no condition to fight."

"So then how was it that you two ended up here with Kauyra and the others?" He saw her grow uneasy, "Rachel?"

"It was Keitaro..."

"…What?"

"Black Blaze took them to see Keitaro and Keitaro is the one who sent us all here." She could feel him tense up.

There was silence for a few minutes. Ryo's gaze went from her to the sword at her side, "That's Sekhmet's."

"He lent it to me and another to Sileny so that it would at least look like we weren't defenseless."

"Have you had to use it…?"

She shifted her weight, "Once." Her eyes found his again, "We had been walking for a long time trying to find Sage first since he can talk to all of you. Marijke found us and brought the cockatrice, Kayura, Sileny and I got separated from the Warlords. We followed a tunnel with glowing crystals to a door but when we tried opening it the ground caved in under us. I got separated from them.

"Kayura ended up in a conservatory where she found Marijke-Rowen was able to free himself and join that fight. Sileny quiet literally landed in Sage's lap. I wound up in a room where the floors moved and created a maze."

"A maze? Wait you didn't end up in the minotaur's room did you?"

"No I sure thought I had though. Something else was there…"

Ryo held her hand that had been over his, "What?"

"The manticore. The one we all thought you had killed," she gripped his hand, "I ran and had to swing the sword once-I did hit it but it cornered me… If Kento hadn't shown up." Rachel knew she had started shaking.

His hands were on her shoulders. He wanted to say something to comfort her but he didn't know what. Instead he asked, "Did that thing hurt you?"

She shook her head, some hair falling over her shoulders, "No. I did trip and fall once but the Manticore didn't hurt me. Just scared the shit out of me." Swallowing a bit hard she went on, "Kento and I went back up the tunnel that had been the trapped door then we regrouped with the others. Sage managed to kill the cockatrice by creating light that was sunlight or damn close to it."

His hand slid down and found hers again, "So everyone was there but Cye?"

"Yes. We moved away from that spot and back to a grand staircase, I wanted to check everyone's wounds but they didn't have any anymore."

"What do you mean?"

Rachel looked at Ryo's arm that had been injured by the hounds. She reached out to put her hand on it, and even through the fabric she should have been able to feel the scar. "You re wounds you all got in this battle have been completely healed. Even Cye is back to perfect health."

Ryo's brow furrowed. _Healed_? He willed his subarmor away and he was once more in jeans and a t-shirt. Rachel moved her hand away from his arm. Nothing. Lifting his formerly injured arm and examining it there was no sign that anything had ever happened.

"See?"

He looked back to her, his subarmor reappearing. "How did you guys find Cye? And how did you get separated from the others?"

"After we discovered no one was still injured the hounds appeared and we bolted up the stairs and into a room, Sileny put it best when she said we found a giant mythical fish bowl. It was like we walked into a room that held a lake. We followed a path along the edge trying to get to a door we thought might be on the other side. The hounds got into the room and came after us but... the water had these giant fish in them that went after the hounds and started eating them.

"In all the commotion we all got swept into the water by the waves the fish created. And we found the Lock Ness Monster. I reluctantly took a ride on it with Dais, Sileny and Kayura.. after we got back into the water the group was separated. Hounds came after myself, Sage, Dais and Cale." She paused, "Rowen fired his arrow at the hounds which killed them but it also sent a huge crack up the wall and the ceiling fell in."

Ryo's eyes widened.

"But even though the water was freezing and we got a shower after a bath, Cye fell into the water with the ceiling so we at least found him quickly."

"Is that why your hands and arms are freezing?" He looked at her. "And wearing Kayura's jinbaori?"

"Yes. But I'm not as cold as I was. Anyways after we found Cye we walked around until we came to an enchanted library. Once we walked in the doors closed lights came on and a huge fire pit lit in the center of the room thank gods."

"How long did you guys stay there?"

"Not very long. We were trying to think up a way to get to you." Rachel pointed to the broken incense burner, "The incense in there kept you guys in suspended animation, it also prevented you from sensing each other or talking to one another. Because of that finding you would have been next to impossible."

Ryo nodded, "So you found me with sheer dumb luck?"

"Me? Possibly." She shrugged, "But really, we did find a way to get to you. Well Kayura and I did…"

"Yes?"

"Sileny asked Kayura if she knew a spell the ancients may have used, which she did although she needed something that belonged to you or something similar to you in order to find you. Kento suggested the apartment key I have to your place but Kayura didn't think that would work."

"Then what did you use?"

"…Me."

Ryo blinked, "Wait. I don't own you."

"No but given the context of the spell since our birthdays are around the same time it made me similar to you."

"Because we're born in August?"

"Because we are both born under the zodiac sign of Leo the Lion and because of that we're fire elements." She shifted, "Or at least that's the conclusion Kayura, Rowen and Sileny came too."

"…"

The young girl went on "Kayura used the spell and the fire pit formed into a large map, Dais created a copy of it and we followed the map for a few hours before we got ambushed by a troll army and separated."

He gripped her hand a bit, "How long were you by yourself this time?"

"I don't know." She looked at him, "I didn't know you were in here. I hid in here because I saw the shadow of the Minotaur and the door was unlocked. When he passed by I turned around and here you are."

Ryo nodded slowly. This was a lot to take in. He looked down seeing he still had her hands in his own, he let one go and looked at her again. "Rachel… please be honest with me are you really okay?"

"I'm better now."

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

She didn't answer.

"Rachel."

"I don't know okay? I haven't checked," She said quietly.

_She looks it_. He thought to himself. Reaching out to the others he said, Guys when you get here knock on the door three times.

_Will do_.

_Gotacha buddy_.

_Right_.

_Ryo, Sekhmet and I are closer. Can you sense us_?

_Yes but knock just the same_. He let out a sigh, "I've asked the guys to knock on the door three times when they get here." He waited for her to go on, "I'm going to turn around so you can check for bruises or whatever." With that he let go of her hand and turned his back to her.

_I'm going to kill that black tiger when I get back there_. _I specifically put him with them to keep them from getting hurt or captured_! He was seething with anger. At least Sekhmet had given them both swords even if they didn't fully know how to use them.

His mind raced to something else.

Given their past experiences getting captured there was no chance of them getting out of here without fighting Haytie. He almost turned to look at her but remembered himself. How the hell were they going to protect the girls?

Ryo could hear her moving behind him. _I hope she isn't hurt badly_.

"Ryo I'm going to need your help with something."

He turned and looked at her, "Anything what is it?"

She hoped she didn't look as uncomfortable as she felt but she had to know, "When I ended up in the maze I landed on my back. It feels fine it's just… will you tell me if it's bruised? It was a pretty far fall.."

"If you trust me that much yes."

"I trust you completely." She turned around and lifted the back of her sweater up, stopping just where her bra was. "Is it bruised or anything?"

"Yes…" How was she not in pain? Ryo reached his hand out and carefully touched a particularly red spot. She jumped started. "Sorry… you're whole back is purple. Your skins freezing."

"Maybe that's why it doesn't hurt?"

"Maybe." He pulled the back of her sweater down. When she turned back around he sighed, "Rachel I'm not sure we can leave here without fighting Haytie."

"…I think I already knew that."


	34. Chapter 34

A/N: **Triple chapter update!** Or rather a four chapter update over the weekend. I don't always sit down after publishing one chapter and magically type out three more shortly after but it happened this time! Shocking. Here's where we start the long haul. Please R&R and thanks to everyone who keeps reading my story.

* * *

**Power**

Chapter Thirty Four

* * *

The trolls had failed. Miserably.

And what was worse all of his prizes had now been awoken.

His gaze fell to the remains of his fallen servants on the floor.

Perhaps it was time to change it up? Hayite didn't normally play this sort of hand; yet he needed those prizes back in their places. Now.

Once more he looked at the floating orbs in the room. Though he didn't have rooms prepared he supposed it would be best to add the armors of those four intruders as well before they too became a large problem.

He then looked at the images of the goth and shield maiden. They had been key in finding his prizes, they would have to be the key to returning them as well. It had been a very long time since he had been forced to taking life from humans with such small magic in them. Though he hoped it would not come to that he would do it if he had to.

"Bring them all to me. Unharmed. If they wish to return to their world they will have no choice."

* * *

Sekhmet and Dais had been the first to arrive followed shortly by Sage, Cye, and Cale. It took the others a while to get there because they had a run in with the Minotaur and really killed it this time.

Ryo had told everyone he was fine and up to speed on what happened. It was comforting to see no one was seriously injured anymore. Even with Rachel's back so bruised it wasn't what he'd call serious. Nor was he about to tell the others he saw it… Kento might never let him live that down.

"How do we get out of here?" Kayura asked.

The Ronin of Wildfire took it upon himself, "I'm not sure we will without fighting Haytie. We don't exactly have the best record as far as escape goes."

"Sadly Ryo's right," Cye agreed, "But at least we're all unharmed. Maybe we can take him?"

Sage looked to Sileny who was sitting on the floor beside Rachel, "I don't suppose you have any idea what Haytie might be?"

"Do you want the short or long answer?"

"Short."

"I have no farking idea."

Rowen glanced at her, "And the long answer…?"

"He could be anything from a human like us to a demi-god for all I know. We don't know squat about him besides the fact that he has man eating creatures and a fascination with powerful objects. I can't really base much off that."

"If he's so greedy maybe he's a dragon from Europe?" Kento suggested.

"Don't joke he just might be. In which case we could be screwed."

"So what should we do then? I for one am not for going to look or a fight." Sage looked at his friends.

"The fights are finding us just fine," Cye commented.

"We are close to the spot where we first arrived," Dais said glances at his comrades and the two girls. "I say we should head that direction. If for no other reason than to at least try and get Rachel and Sileny out of here."

_There is no way in hell it's going to be that easy_. Kayura glanced at him allowing the others to hear her.

_It's something to do_. The one-eyed warrior retorted. _Or we can just stay in here and wait for them to find us_.

Cye glanced at the girls, "I say we give it a try. We can't just sit here forever."

"Then it's decided."

Rachel and Sileny stood up.

There was a knock at the door.

The group grew quiet and the air felt heavy with the tension. After a few minutes they heard a voice. "Ich kpmme mit einer Nachrich von meinem Herrn."

Slowly everyone looked to Rachel.

"It says it has a message from it's lord."

"What do you think?" Cye looked at Ryo.

Ryo shrugged and looked back at her.

Rachel took a breath, "Welche Botschaft?" The voice responded and she visibly hesitated.

"Rachel?" Sage asked slowly.

"It says if we want to get out of here to open the door and follow the trolls to the throne room… Haytie demands we go there."

They all looked at each other. Was there a choice? This was clearly a trap.

* * *

How did things always seems to come to this? Cye looked around the hallway as he walked with his friends. His guard was up as they followed the small unarmed troll creature to the root of their trials over the last few months. And while there where very few times in Cye's life where he was itching for a fight, this was one of them.

Sea green eyes glanced to his side, Rachel was walking between him and Kento. Looking more on edge than when he first saw her. If they could just keep luck on their side they could at least get her and Sileny out of there before the fight went down.

Cye wasn't about to pretend he hadn't seen this coming. This had to happen if they ever wanted to be left alone by this… this Haytie whatever he was. Whoever he was.

The group turned the corner and two large double doors came into view. These doors were bigger than the ones to the library.

He gripped his trident, trying to be ready for whatever was about to happen.

Rowen glared at the doors. He couldn't sense anything coming from the other side which bothered him a lot. _I've had enough of this_, he told himself. Beside him he felt Sileny tense up. He looked at her then to Sage who was on the other side, Sage met his gaze and they shared a small nod.

The whole way the group had been talking through their mental connection, forming a plan. Before leaving the room that had served as Ryo's cell they had warned the girls quietly that they would think of something. They had come up with a pretty good plan too.

If Haytie wouldn't let them go or return the girls home, Sage and Ryo would combine their powers of light and fire to blind the room temporarily. Kento would then force the walls and doors open so they could escape, Cye would combine his water with Sekhmet's poisons and fill the room as they ran. They would then head to the room where the others had arrived before. Kayura was going to try to get them all out of there.

It wasn't what Rowen would call foolproof but it was the best they could manage. While the Ronin could still fight and even had an itch to do so, it was clear to them just how put out the Warlords were. Rachel and Sileny more so. They needed to get out of here for them.

The group stopped at the doors.

_You guys ready for this_? Ryo asked.

_Yeah_.

_Let's see who this ass hole is then get out of here_.

_Just don't do anything until I give the signal_, Sage reminded Kento.

_I won't_.

The doors opened revealing the large room. Balls of glass hung from a circular-roofless room, giving the only light in the room. Both the floor and walls were shining white porcelain. In the center of the room was the throne, large yet simple and made of what looked like gold.

However, it was the figure sitting on the throne and the bones on the floor that stood out the most. No one needed to ask if they were the remains of their fallen enemies, they already knew the answer was yes.

As for the figure on the throne, Haytie. He looked incredibly human. Sitting there he wore very ornate white silk robes that would have made all the rulers on earth envious. Long dark hair had been combed back away from his face. Yet his eyes were dark and harder than any stone the group had ever seen.

What really bothered them though was just how _transfixed_ those eyes were on Rachel and Sileny.

"Leave us," He said in a firm voice.

The trolls parted from the room; the doors closing behind them.

Sage became very still and gripped his weapon, this was not going to be very easy. Something about this guy seemed very off compared to the other leaders they had encountered in the past.

"Well played. No one has come this far to escaping me before." He smirked eerily, "Nor has anyone ever come so far in an attempted rescue mission. I haven't seen such a display in my many years." The smirk faded, "And it has also been such a long time since I was angered." Lifting his hand he snapped his fingers.

The unarmored girls gave a yelp as the ground shot up below them, separating them from their friends and taking them high up. One of the many orbs that hung in the air grew and transformed into a large bird-like cage that then engulfed them.

"Rachel!"

"Sileny!"

He spoke coolly, "I assure you they will be perfectly fine up there," Haytie looked at the group before him. "I've no interest in harming the goth or shield maiden. They have little value to me and possess almost no magic."

Ryo growled, "Let them go." He demaned.

"I shall shortly," Haytie stood, "See whilst they have almost no magic, the nine of you do. I had only intended to take you five, yet I now see the other four could pose a great threat as well if not kept in check. All of you shall have to stay here far from the human world."

"We protect that world!" Kayura shouted at him.

"Interesting. From what I can tell that world need protection from all of you. Your powers are too much. The world be better off without nine ticking time bombs just waiting to go off."

"What?" Rachel breathed. Was she hearing things right? Did this guy really think her friends were a danger?!

Anger was boiling inside the Ronin of Torrent, "What did you say?"

"Powers such as the sort you all possess is dangerous and I have seen far too much destruction from the likes of it. I will keep you all here to protect the mortal realm. As I have done with all my other prizes for many years."

Kento gritted his teeth, "You-"

"Din idiot!" Sileny shouted down at him, "If it wasn't for the nine of them our world would have fallen to a demon lord a few years ago!"

"That was in the past, shield maiden. They did not hold the power then that they do now, which remains the only reason I let them be before." Returning his gaze to the prizes before him he said, "I shall make it simple. You nine will stay here forever. Refuse and I will not guarantee their safety."

"Bastard." Kayura growled.

Sileny gazed down at her friends, _Don't you guys dare back down just for us_!

Rachel stared down at them too, her eyes fixed on the leader. She saw him look up and their eyes met, she nodded once, "Fight him. We trust you all." The girl said quietly.

Ryo nodded to her. His firey gazed returned to his enemy as he drew out one of his swords pointing it at Haytie, "We are not your prisoners and you will not _keep_ us here or hurt our friends."

Kento took a step forward, "We worked too hard protecting the world to be seen by someone like you as a threat!"

"If anyone is a threat to the world it's you," Cye added, "We live peacefully in the world unless we are attacked as you've done."

"And now you are threatening the safety of two innocent girls!" Sage pointed out with an icy edge in his voice. "Who's a threat here? We who are protecting them or you?!"

Rowen glared, "Your servants attacked us all unwarranted. We have done nothing to provoke you but you've done everything to provoke us! You even attacked and hurt an innocent _**child**_!"

Haytie looked impassive. "I see I will have to force you all back to your rooms."


	35. Chapter 35

A/N: Single chapter update. Thanks everyone who keeps reading Power, even if you don't R&R I'm glad you are reading this and finding it enjoyable. The story is almost over, only a few chapters left.

* * *

**Power**

Chapter Thirty Five

* * *

Whatever plan the guys had come up with must have almost been thrown out the window. Sileny gripped a hand on one of the bars as she looked down on the scene below. Somehow she'd known the whole time that there was no way around this, and most likely they all had. No one had said anything about it. She wasn't sure if that had been for her and Rachel, or themselves.

Azure eyes watched her friends moving into a formation, mostly everyone was moving to give Ryo and Sage some space. _They'll attack first then_, she glanced at Rachel who nodded. Both girls looked back down to the scene below.

Ryo moved first, drawing his other sword he linked the two hilts together. He jumped into the air and fire swirled around the blades. Right before he launched the attack, Sage swung his sword and the lightning formed instantaneously as the blade cut through the air. The light was blinding and the fire only added to the light and the heat in the room became almost unbearable.

The girls shielded their eyes. There was the sound of glass breaking all around them followed by pain.

Rachel opened her eyes first and gazed down at her forearm, there were cuts on her hands but nothing too serious. However there was a shard of glass in her right arm up by her shoulder. _Shit_! She reached over and pulled it out, thankful it wasn't a big shard and tossed it to the side. Looking at her arm she saw it was bleeding-it wasn't bad.

She turned to face Sileny who was visibly in pain and clutching her shoulder, blood was visible between her fingers.

Down below them things took an unexpected turn.

When the light finally dimmed Haytie was standing where they left him, yet that wasn't to say he was unharmed. Shattered glass covered the floor like glitter. His clothes had been burnt and shredded; there were cut marks on him but no blood. Nor did he really act like he was hurt.

He glared, "It seems in having your injuries healed your powers have bounced back up too." The man pulled a large curled shard of glass from the back of his throat. "Had I been a normal human I'd be-"

Before he could finish his sentence he was shot back with a wave of water hit his face and sent him fly back into the throne.

Cye kept the water going as Kento raised part of the ground below him and Dais, up to where the girls hung in their cage.

The taller warrior notched his arrow and fired it at the ground in front of their enemy. The combined force of the two attacks forced Haytie through the throne and to the other side of the room.

_They act faster out of instinct than by plan_, Kayura observed. She saw as the enemy was about to stand the walls move around him, trapping him.

Kento and Dais landed beside her, "We can't get those bars open," Dais said.

The Ronin of Hardrock kept his eyes fixed across the room, "And the girls have been hurt."

"What?!" Ryo and Sage's eyes widened. Was it because of them?

"What do you mean they're hurt?!" Rowen demanded.

Haytie broke out of the prison that Kento had tried creating, the rubble swirled around him.

_Kento_?

_I'm not doing that_!

"My turn," Haytie said in a low voice. The rubble went flying at the warriors at blinding speed, knocking a few of them back. Then the floor began to spin, literally, as the shards of glass rise into the air then flew at the warriors like a wave of bullets.

Ryo winced as one grazed his cheek before the mask of his armor came down. He staggered to keep his balance on the spinning ground. With the ground moving he wasn't about to attack with his fire in case it missed Haytie and hit one of his friends.

Behind the Ronin leader, Kayura glared and gripped her weapon. Hang on! She shouted to the others before she jumped into the air and threw the ball and chain down, she hadn't shouted the attack yet the Quake with Fear didn't disappoint. Chains shot up from the ground and embedded themselves in the walls of the room, stopping the spinning floor a bit more sudden than she thought.

Cale, who had been pinned down by a boulder, had grabbed onto one of the chains using it to break himself free. He saw that Dais, Sage, and Cye had either done the same or grabbed on for a higher advantage point. The warlord couldn't really say which.

Though the floor had stopped spinning the glass was still circling the room. More like a swarm of bees now than a volley of bullets. Cale noticed that all the Ronin now had their masks on, something he hadn't seen before, and they also had visible wounds where the fabric of their subarmor showed. Some looked like nothing more that scratches while other he could tell, even from a distance, where bleeding.

A thought struck him. The Warlord of Darkness lifted his sword, the black lightening danced around it before it spread throughout the room, engulfing everything in complete darkness.

_What did you do that for_?! Sage asked him.

_I want to know if he can strike us if he can't see us_. Cale answered, _I can still see perfectly and he's looking around as if he expect something_.

_A sneak attack_, Kayura summed.

_Lets give him one_, Kento glared.

_Rowen_.

_What Sage_?

_Ready to try that combo we talked about with Cye_?

_I'm ready if you two are_, Cye said.

_Right. Everyone get off the floor_!

Those that remained on the floor jumped up just as Sage's sword began to give off a faint hint of light. Rowen was floating in the air when he loosed the arrow which was drawing air around it like a vacuum. Then Cye swung his yari and the water that shot from it was sucked into the air vacuum just as the thunder from Sage's sword struck the arrow.

The entire back section and most of the floor in the room had been completely destroyed, the sheer force of the attack even sent the warriors themselves back by the doors that lead into the room. Doors that then fell backwards back into the hallway with a loud echoing thud.

"Holy shit!" Kayura stared around at the scene in awe. She couldn't see Haytie.

"Hey Sekhmet!" The Warlord turned to see Ryo who was by the cage looking pissed as hell, "Come help me get these two out of here."

Sekhmet spun on the chain and ran up it to its anchor in the wall before jumping to the cage. "Are you two alright?" He asked as he drew out a sword.

Sileny looked at him, still holding her shoulder, "We will be." She answered before glancing at Rowen who had flown over to help.

"What happened?" Ryo asked though he had a pretty good idea what the answer was.

"We aren't completely sure," Rachel lied.

The Warlord of Venom cut the bars with his acid lined sword, the bars disintegrated he helped Rowen get Rachel out first and over to Ryo who jumped back to the ground with her. Sekhmet turned to Sileny but saw she was looking past them, "What is it?"

"Something's moving over there," She pointed to the spot where Haytie had been. Sileny let out a small gasp when Rowen wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her closer to him. Trying to ignore the pain that shot through her shoulder, she wrapped her arms around his neck as best she could while floating in the air with him.

Ryo stood in front of Rachel with Cye and Kento who had dashed over to join them. They watched as Haytie burst from the ground he had been buried under. At least now Haytie looked like he'd been in a dog fight. There was a scratch that went along his face… no that wasn't a scratch what was that?

"Is that a crack in his face?" Rachel asked looking between Ryo and Cye.

"A crack?" Cye looked at her then back to Haytie, "It kind of does look like one."

Kento arched an eyebrow, "So what is he a giant doll or something?"

"I don't know," Rachel replied.

Haytie took a step forward and all the debris around him flew to the side, clearing the way for him and causing the room to shake. There was a glassy rage in his eyes.

Sileny felt Rowen's grip on her tighten, "Sil," he said in a low voice, "Ryo says that Rachel can see a crack on Haytie's face. Kento wants to know if this guy could be a giant doll or something."

A doll? You're kidding right. She thought for a moment, "Not a doll persey…" There was only one kid of creature she knew about that was like a doll. And if her hunch was correct then things would make perfect sense. Haytie had a strong will to keep her friends here fearing they would cause a problem in the outside world. And all his attacked had been earth based.

He looked at her, "What do you mean?"

She looked at him then down at the enemy, "Haytie!"

He stopped and looked up at the shield maiden.

"Are you a golem?"

Rowen's mind went from what the hell are you doing to what the hell is a golem.

"A what?" Kento looked from his friends above to Rachel who shrugged.

"What's a golem?" Dais asked from his perch on the chains.

"It's like a doll or puppet created to protect things. They are usually made of clay or something like it." Sileny answered loud enough for the whole room to hear her.

A smirk formed on his face, causing the crack to grow, "Yes shield maiden, or perhaps I should call you a witch? I am indeed a golem."

Silence filled the room.

"Now that you know what I am, perhaps you can understand what I'm doing now. I've been around for ages gathering items of great power. I store them here to keep them away from the humans since all the powers here are deadly. I cannot allow you Ronin Warriors or Warlords, as you call yourselves to leave this place." His eyes narrowed, "You're power is too much."

"Whoever created this thing had a twisted sense of protecting," Sileny said in a low voice.

Ryo tensed up. Their power too much? He had worn a weapon that was more dangerous than the armor he was wearing now. This was insulting. After everything they had done to protect this world! He could feel his hands shaking as the tightly gripped his katanas.

He was brought out of his anger when he felt a tight grip on the inside of his arm. Looking to his side he saw Rachel with his arm on one hand and Cye's in the other. With an anger in her eyes that he had never seen before.

"These are people not objects. They are _not_ yours to take."

"Nor are they yours to keep." Haytie retorted, "Are those cuts not from the attack they used when they first entered my throne room?"

Rachel lost it and began shouting at him in German. Whatever it was that she said clearly struck a chord within him somewhere because his expression went from a cocky smirk to an outright glare.

Sekhmet looked at the other girl, "Any idea what she said?"

"Nothing that needs repeating," Sileny answered. Of course she didn't have to understand what Rachel said to know what she was saying.

Haytie took another step forward, "I see. That does not change what I must do. I'll just have to change the way I go about doing it after this is over." He snapped his fingers twice and all the glass in the room began to glow filling the room with white hot light for a moment before everything went dark again.

When Rachel opened her eyes the guys were gone and Sileny was next to her, "What the?" A large door shot up from the ground behind them, it opened to show them the forest of Aoikigahara.

"You can both return to the world you belong in now."

They turned to look at him and saw nine balls of glass floating around him.

"You're magics are nothing to fear. But I must keep these ones here with me."

Sileny glared, "Nej! Vi är inte utan våra vänner som du tjuv!"

"Thief? If they don't belong to anyone how can I st-"

A loud roar came from the doorway followed by streaks of white and black fur.

The large black tiger ran at the golem and succeeded in pinning him down to the floor. The action caught him off guard. All the glass fell and shattered again just as the door back to the mortal world vanished.

Haytie glared up at the beast before realizing that he was now surrounded by his prizes, all of whom had their weapons drawn.


End file.
